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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Born in 1950, the author holds several academic degrees including majors in Linguistic Science, Chinese and African Studies, Theology and Religious Studies. He has rich teaching and research experience gained at several universities in Africa, Asia, and the USA and Europe. He has also published over

20 books in his special fields of expertise (Linguistic Science, Theory of Foreign

Language Teaching, Translation Theory, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Religious Studies/Theology).

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LIST OF CONTENTS

  The Three Signs of Being According to Theravada Buddhism  4

  The Suttra Pittaka  6

  The Abhidhamma Pittaka  9

  The Concept of God in Buddhism and in the Bible  12

  The Four Noble Truths According To Theravada Buddhism  17

  Karma and Rebirth In Theravada Buddhism  19

  The Noble Eightfold Path According To Theravada Buddhism  21

  The Four Paths and the Goal in Theravada Buddhism  23

  No-self: Emptiness or Renewed Person  25

  A Fierce Field and God s  27

  The Problem of Suffering  29

  The Vinaya Pittaka  31

4

The Three Signs of Being According To Theravada

Buddhism

A very important initial concept to These are three qualities determining

understanding Buddhism in any of its the Being of all Things and are

schools and special adherences to a inherent to Life. In earthly life, they are

particular sect, to a Westerner of the bound to the constant Wheel of

Christian faith is certainly the following: Becoming, processes of which are the

“The Buddha (i.e., historical and stages of birth, growth, decay and

spiritual founder of the Buddhist death. This Wheel is in constant

movement in India in the 5 th pre- motion, and all things in being are

Christian century, my insertion, Muh.) subject to it and three constant Law of

based his Teaching on no Change: Nothing remains the same

assumptions, least of all on the two that it was the moment before. The

which dominate the Western mind from constant Wheel of Becoming as being

earliest childhood, an absolute yet in constant motion means reproduction

personal God, and an immortal soul and regeneration of those things

which must be ‘saved’, and can only be subject to decay as they enter the

saved with the assistance of this circle of motion again – perhaps in

God….As between the theist and another shape and quality – to go

atheist positions, Buddhism is atheist, through the process of becoming and

but it would be more correct to say that disappearing all over again. This idea

it analyzes the complex of conflicting of rebirths is a concept that Buddhism

ideas comprised in the term God with draws on the teachings of earlier

the same dispassionate care as it Brahmanism.

analyzes the so-called soul….The

Buddhist teaching on God, in the The quality of impermanence is the

sense of an ultimate Reality, is neither first of the Three Signs of Being, those

agnostic, as is sometimes claimed, nor universal qualities determining all

vague, but clear and logical” forms of lives and existence of things

(Christmas Humphreys, Buddhism: An ontologically. They are subject to

Introduction and Guide, London 1990 constant change. It implies the

(1951):79).

constant Wheel of Becoming and the

fact of rebirths taken for granted as

We need these preconceptions and the such.

differences it entails in contrast to a

Christian-based worldview in mind The quality of suffering as the second

when considering the The Three Signs of these three Signs of Being refers to

of Being in Buddhism a bit further. In the quality of Dukkha. It could mean

themselves, they constitute a basic any form of physical and mental

Ontology of Life from a clear Buddhist suffering including various kinds of

perspective and provide an inventory degrees to which a thing is exposed to

of existential-qualitative axioms from suffering. “Dukkha, then, is a fact, and

which Buddhism develops its approach either a man, on quiet consideration of

to salvation. In short, these three Signs life as he knows it, realizes for himself

of Being are: impermanence of all its omnipresence, or he does not”

things, suffering, and a non-permanent (Humphreys, ibd., p. 82).

soul.

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The third of the Three Signs of Being is So, these Three Signs of Being are the quality of Anatta, a “doctrine that basic ontological qualities and axioms nothing in existence has within it a upon which Buddhism builds its permanent soul or imperishable entity doctrine of Karma and Rebirth and that which distinguishes it from other forms it calls “The Four Noble Truths”.

of life” (Humphreys, ibd., p. 85). Two

aspects, those of impermanence and of an ever-changing individuality, are considered here because “Buddhism insists that the soul is not a rigid, unchanging, self-constituted entity but a living, complex, changing, evolving organism” (ibd., p. 87). Thus, any human being in its present state and form of life is not a seen as to consist of a single, well-defined ego which is his very Self but subject to a multitude of stimulating mental and physical factors which only in sum form that what he may regard as his very “ego” or Self. His Self perceived as such is an illusion based on ignorance of these three Signs of Being determining his existence ontologically and which, in a very general and abstract way, may be seen as the cause of all suffering.

Fig. 1: My first personal encounter with Buddhism in Korea (South). Picture taken by me (1987). This is a Buddha statue in stone on the premises of the famous Buddhist Popchusa Temple (Korea). In front of it, an altar for offering with candles and a sign in the Korean Hangul Script “huisaham” (Thanksgiving). The believer kneels down in front of the candles and the altar to bow in front of the Buddha statue. The form of Buddhism mostly found in Korea is that of the Mahayana School and was transferred from China to the Korean peninsula around th century C.E. Buddhism has exercised enormous effects in the formation of a sinisized Korean native the 8 culture and has also left is impacts in the formation and development of the Korean language and script. From the Korean peninsula, Mahayana Buddhism eventually reached also Japan. This photo and this short summary are have been taken from: Schmidt, W.G.A.: “Einfuehrung in die koreanische Schrift” (Introduction to the Korean Script and the Study of Korean Philology”, Hamburg 1990:48 (It is one of the rare German standard textbooks on the topic used at university level here).

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The Sutra Pittaka

With a canon of sacred scriptures in all Canon if the Sutra Pittaka Scriptures

religious systems of faith, if they have did not form part of this Canon. For,

any, it is always remarkable that the this what the Buddha taught is to be

set of scriptures constituting such a regarded the core of all Buddhist faith

canon were not made in view of later and what evolved around it in

forming part of such a canon but were consequence of such teaching: The

merely made on the sole merits of their Vinaya Pittaka scriptures reflect the

special content. If such scripture, fact that there was such a teaching of

merely made in merits of its special the Buddha that led to the formation of

contents alone, then may have found Buddhist Sangha and the rules

wide approval in the religious applying to a life as monk or nun in

community concerned in terms of its such a community of religious

“purity” and decisive doctrinal adherents. The Abidhamma Pittaka

message, it eventually may acquire section of scripture within the Pali

such a canonized status along with canon constitute the so-called “higher”

other sacred scripture to distinguish it or more advanced teachings, not

from other religious scripture more necessarily attributable to the Buddha

“popular” in content and literary genre, himself but to eminent scholars within

perhaps adding some “apocryphical” or the Buddhist movement some or even

other non-standard dogmatic-historical many generations later; they evolved

around and on the basis of the “basic legendary elements.

teachings” contained in the scriptures

of the Sutra Basket to be considered Literature of a hagiographic nature to

here. Thus, in a way we may well say some extent may contain such

that the Sutra Pittaka as the central elements but their perception as being

core of sacred scripture within the Pali either worthy or unworthy of canonical

Canon presupposes the two other status in a corpus of canonized sacred

baskets, not only in terms of concept scripture may differ from place to

and doctrine but probably also in terms place, time-to-time and religious

of history with regard to making, system to another.

transmission and perception of such

scripture by the Southern Buddhist In case of the Sutra Pittaka,

community forming part of the constituting another and the second

Theravada Schools of Buddhism.

Basket of canonized sacred Buddhist

scripture in the Pali Canon to be

We may refrain from sketching the considered here, we may all safely

contents of this basket, relevant assume this said above.

sketches of content outline can be

found in Humphreys (ibd., pp. 234-236) Humphreys (ibd., p. 234) remarks that

and in Harvey (ibd., pp. 322-323). they contain “the Sermons or Teaching

Some textual portions in English of the Buddha” and thus constitute the

translation with annotations from the core of the scriptures within the Pali

corpus of scripture in the Sutra Basket Canon: The scriptures contained in the

of the Pali Canon can be found in two other Baskets, the Vinaya Pittaka

anthologies such as Conze, E.: and the Abidhamma Pittaka, would be

Buddhist Scriptures, London 1959 and meaningless in their status as

in: LOPEZ, D.S., 1995.

canonized scripture within the Pali

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Only few exact data are known as to posthumous in nature, we cannot

the original making, transmission and safely say. But this is a point only

canonization are known for the Sutra relevant in terms of textual criticism. In

Pittaka scriptures so that nothing can terms of content and doctrine it is

be said about them in terms of textual beyond time that these teachings are

criticism, also with respect to eventual to regarded as authority in teaching the

textual variants in the original language message, promoting and pointing to

edition(s). Humphrey says that “by the the spiritual well-being and progress of

third century B.C. the Sutta (Pali for all those who have “entered the

“´Sutra”, my insertion, Muh.) Pittaka stream”.

has been separated into five Nikayas”

or subdivisions. The largest part of this

scripture corpus must have already

existed by then if this dating is correct.

Humphrey further remarks that “the

Canon was probably settled at the

Third (Sangha, my insertion, Muh.)

Council, but that it was not until the

reign of the Sinhalese King

Vattagamani (29-17 B.C.) that the

Bikkhus of the day, ‘since the saw that

the people were falling away (from the

orthodox teaching), met together, and

in order that the true doctrine may

This is the Chinese character for endure (be preserved, my insertion,

“Buddha”, pronounced “fo” in the Muh.), wrote it down in books’”

second tone in Standard (Mandarin) (Humphreys, ibd., 233). We therefore

Chinese. It is in fact a phonetic may well conclude that the making and

adoption from the first syllable “Budd-“ transmission of the Sutra Pittaka

of the Sanskrit rendering with the “— scriptures must have been finalized

ddh” consonant cluster dropped at the some time before the third century B.C.

end. The same character with the and perhaps some hundreds of years

meaning of “Buddha” is also found in after the passing away of the historical

Sino-Japanese where it may be read Buddha.

either as “hotoke” (kun reading),

“butsu” (first alternative on reading), or However, as was the case also with

as “hotsu” (second alternative on other “canonized” sacred scripture of

reading). “kun” and “on” reading refer other religious systems: the original

to different points of time when the sermons and teachings of the

term was borrowed from Northern (or (historical) Buddha were first Southern) Chinese into Japanese and transmitted orally only to be written

became a loan word there. In Sino- down some generations later. Thus,

Korean, the reading of the character we find references and phrases such

above is either “p’ul” or “p’il” with an as “Thus I have heard” in the

aspirated p- at the beginning introductory parts of certain Sutras,

substituting the Chinese f- sound that mostly making reference to Ananda,

does not exist in the Korean the attendant monk to the (historical)

phonological system. In Cantonese, Buddha. And again, if this reference is

this character is being read as either really authentical and therefore would

as “fat” in the first or as “fat” in the sixth have some exact historical foundation,

tone. The Cantonese, Sino-Japanese or whether this is “hagiographic” and

and Sino-Korean readings have been

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borrowed from Northern Standard exceptions), thus normally all syllables

Chinese of around the 6 th century A.D. must nearly always end in a vowel or a

(period of Tang Dynasty) and have combination of vowels. – Culturally, the

been “phonetically” adjusted” to the fact this character with its “adopted”

phonological systems of the respective readings in Sino-Korean, Sino-

target languages into which this term Japanese and Cantonese has been

was borrowed. The original Chinese rendered this way attests to the

borrowing from Sanskrit itself made important mediator role that Chinese

initial Sanskrit “B-“ of “Buddha” to language and culture were to play in

become initial “F-“ in Chinese due to a the Far East in ancient times. From

different rendering of the B consonant (Northern) Chinese, such terms were

in Chinese. As Chinese characters borrowed into the languages of

normally constitute one syllable in adjacent cultures such as those of

Chinese only, the latter part of the Japan and on the Korean peninsula by

Sanskrit syllable “ddha” was dropped way of intercultural transfer in ancient

altogether. Furthermore, Chinese only times.

“accepts” open syllables (with a few

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The Abhidhamma Pittaka

The Abhidhamma Pittaka is the third of Muh.) so as to give a fine–grained

the three Baskets in the Pali Canon to enumeration and characterization of all

be considered here, and Humphreys the dhamma’s, basic patterns or basic

characterizes its seven books that are processes, which are experienced as

grouped under this basket as “complex making up the flow of mental and

field of human thought, which is mainly physical phenomena. Among these are

concerned with the nature of included various sets of spiritual

consciousness and what is now called qualities. On the other hand, it refines

psychology. Its language is that of the doctrine of Conditioned Arising by

analytic philosophy, and though at showing how the basic patterns

times profound in quality it is largely condition each other in a web of

arid of that spiritual insight which alone complex ways….” (ibd., p. 83). “While

makes Scriptural ‘authority’ of value on this literature has sometimes been

the Way. Much of it is an all too human seen as dry and scholastic, it is a

commentary on the almost spiritual psychology with a very

superhuman beauty and insight of the practical purpose. It gives detailed

Suttas (Pali for Sutras, my insertion, knowledge of the working of the mind,

Muh.), and most of it was written long and thus can guide a person in

after the Suttas were compiled. …. Of meditative development, and it

the post-canonical works, the best facilitates the proper understanding of

known is the Milinda-Pinha, or personality as an interaction of

‘Questions of King Milinda…” impermanent, unsatisfactory,

(Humphreys, ibd., p. 237). Harvey ownerless and insubstantial events”

states that the Abhidhamma were a (ibd.) --- thus relating to classical

complement to the wisdom-orientation Buddhist concepts of “experiencing

as expressed in these works grouped reality”!

under the Abhidhamma themselves

and that “in the third century BC, a few Harvey adds that “the Abhidhamma,

schools added these to their canons of except in discussing character types,

teachings, developed them from analyses ‘persons’ and ‘things’ down

Matikas, or tabulated summaries of into an number of dhammas that, as

topics, which may have originated with viewed in the Buddha’s teaching, or

the Buddha. The Abhidhammas of the Dhamma, are basic facts of

different schools differed appreciably in experience: interdependent basic

details, but all aimed to present the patterns within the overall Basic

teachings of the Suttas systematically, Pattern (Dhamma) of the nature of

along with interpretations which drew reality….By the early centuries AD,

out their implications. The existence came to be seen as

Abhidhamma literature sought to avoid consisting of the interaction of a limited

some of the inexactitudes of colloquial number of such basic patterned

conventional language, as is processes: seventy-two according to

sometimes found in the Suttas, and the Theravada school (i.e., the

state everything in psycho- Abhidhamma Pittaka scriptures of the

philosophical exact language… The Pali Canon, my insertion, Muh.)…..”

Abhidhamma performs two main tasks: (Harvey, ibd., pp. 83-84).

On the one hand, it refines the

khandha analysis (components making The two main topics considered in the

up a human personality, my insertion, Abhidhamma Scriptures of the Pali