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Theravada Buddhism

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History

Roots in India

Buddhism has its roots and origins in India, a land which has a long and rich history of religion and culture going back to ancient times.

During the thirteenth century BCE the Indo-lranians (Aryans), a branch of the Indo-Europeans, invaded northwest India. As a result, the Indo-lranian holy texts, the Vedas (compiled between the fifteenth and the sixth centuries BCE) and the Vedic tradition were gradually assimilated into the older beliefs of the Indian people. Between the sixth and seventh centuries BCE this combination of beliefs gradually developed into what became known as Brahmanism.

It was in this atmosphere of strong cultural traditions and religious beliefs, more than 2,500 years ago, that Siddhattha (the man who was to become the Buddha) was born and embarked upon his spiritual career.

The Oldest School of Buddhism

Though its beginnings are obscure, Theravada is believed to be one of the very oldest schools of Buddhism.

In approximately 483 BCE, not long after the Buddha's death, an important meeting took place among his followers; this became known as the First Council. It is said that at this First Council, one of the Buddha's chief disciples, Ananda, repeated all he could remember of the teachings. Ananda's recollections were then learned by rote by many of those present, and these people subsequently passed on their recollections word-for-word to others. This method then became the accepted way of preserving the Buddha's teachings, and what evolved were the repetitive chants that can still be heard today in Buddhist monasteries and temples. It was a way of preserving the teachings; and it probably also had the effect of systematizing them at that time.

Buddhist texts usually open with the words 'Thus have I heard ...' This reflects the fact that they are being recounted and that what follows are not necessarily the actual words of the Buddha.

Schisms in the Order

During the first hundred years after the demise of the Buddha, some disciples began to specialize in studying the discourses of the Buddha (the suttas), and others made a study of the rules of behaviour (the vinaya) said to have been devised by the Buddha. This specialization led to debate, and these debates, it is thought, led, to the schisms which followed.

A hundred years later, in about 340 BCE, a Second Council was called. It was at this time that a very important split took place. This resulted in what basically became two factions known as the Great Sangha (the Mahasanghikas), and the Sthaviras, meaning 'the Elders'. This division was primarily the result of a dispute about the qualities needed for one to become a Holy One, an Arahant.

During the following century various other schisms took place on the question of doctrine, the rules of the Buddhist order, and a metaphysical view of the Buddha.

The Sthaviras divided into many schools. Convention has it that there were eighteen groups. The texts and commentaries, however, mention more. The Indian Sanskrit term 'Sthavira' meaning 'Elder' became the Pali word 'Theravada', 'the Way of the Elders', in the Southeast Asian countries which subsequently adopted and preserved the teachings.

In the eleventh century, these teachings left India, but the Theravada tradition that exists today evolved from these early Indian beginnings.

Hinayana (the Small Vehicle)

The other major faction, the Mahasanghikas, eventually became known as Mahayanists – Great Vehicle Buddhists. The Mahayanists began to refer to the Theravadans as Hinayanists – Small Vehicle Buddhists. The comparison was meant as a derogatory term to point out the 'small mindedness' of the Theravadans who were working for their own salvation only, while the Mahayanists were working for the liberation of everyone. It was saying that the Great Vehicle will carry many to liberation, while the Small Vehicle will carry but one. This understanding was unwittingly adopted by early Western scholars who then set a pattern in translation which others followed.

A counter claim also emerged through the translations of the Theravada writings, and stated that the Theravada was the 'original teaching', and therefore the pure, unadulterated, orthodox version.

These terms and claims were, basically, an ancient sectarian argument brought into the modern age. They were out of context and referred to groups that existed over two thousand years ago. These errors in translation and interpretation are now gradually being ironed out, but there are still many references to Hinayana, meaning Theravada, to be found in Buddhist works.

Development of the Schools

Buddhist history has been one of constant development. Schools, such as the Theravada, have gone through long processes of change and transformation, and none that exist today should be regarded as an exact replica of any group in existence at the time of the Buddha.

The great Councils were momentous occasions, but analysis and debate were ongoing processes throughout the ages which affected gradual change. The early Buddhist communities (sangha) were small groups of practising ascetics. The Buddha would teach his followers and then urge them to go and meditate in forests and caves. Naturally, when these people came together to discuss their experiences, interpretations would differ. What today would seem to be great splits in these early groups, therefore, may merely have been issues of debate, just people putting their own interpretations on their insights. During the time of the great Buddhist university at Nalanda which flourished over a thousand years after these early days, for example, monks of different persuasions lived and studied together.

During this process of change and debate, the rules of the Buddhist community remained fairly constant amongst all traditions. There was never much discussion about how a Buddhist should live; controversy centred mainly upon the consequences of the Buddhist way of life; these were mere philosophical debates.

Early Years

Very little is actually known of Theravada Buddhism as it existed in India, of course, all those centuries ago, although it is thought to have been widespread in the northern areas. The first recorded accounts of it are from the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka (274–236 BCE) who sent his son, Mahinda, to Sri Lanka as a missionary.

In Sri Lanka, Theravada was established and became the state religion. This was in about 250 BCE. From there it moved on to Thailand in approximately 720 CE, though it could have first appeared there much earlier, and came into Myanmar (Burma) in about 1100 CE, and then on to various other countries in Southeast Asia. In the nineteenth century Theravada, with other forms of Buddhism, came to the West, where today it has begun to take root.

Strangely, Buddhism began to die out in India around 1200 CE and is now virtually extinct in its land of origin.

The Pali Language

The ancient texts of the Theravada were written in Pali. This, like its closely related cousin, Sanskrit, of the Mahayana school, is a dead language, only to be heard these days in the Buddhist temples being chanted by monks. One or two Pali words, however, have found their way into the modern languages, as no appropriate translations can be found. In the West, though, the Sanskrit versions are generally used. We see nirvana (Sanskrit), for example, rather than the Pali equivalent nibbana; dharma (Sanskrit) rather than dhamma (Pali); karma (Sanskrit) rather than kamma (Pali), and so on. (See Glossary.)

Note: CE = Common Era, i.e. AD – Anno Domini

BCE = Before the Common Era

The Life of the Buddha

Siddhattha

Siddhattha Gotama, approximately 563–483 BCE; is the man who became the Buddha, the Fully Enlightened One. The legends surrounding his life are varied, but they have a common theme.

Siddhattha was born of a noble or royal family in Kapilavatthu on the borders of present-day Nepal and India. The Gotamas were a branch of the Sakya clan.

His mother, Maya, gave birth to him in a grove in Lumbini. She died seven days later and his aunt, Prajapati, took over as foster mother. The family were of the warrior (khattiya) caste.

A holy man saw the baby and predicted it would have a choice in later life of becoming either a great monarch or a great spiritual leader. Siddhattha's father, Suddhodana, had no doubts in his mind what he wanted his son to be – a great monarch – and he instituted a life of luxury and ease for the boy, keeping him from the dark side of existence with all its disappointments and suffering, fearing that if Siddhattha's compassion were aroused, he would be tempted into a religious career. And so Siddhattha saw nothing of old age, sickness and death.

Old Age

In spite of the carefully orchestrated days, however, and his father's attempts to fill his every moment with light-hearted extravagances, Siddhattha was unhappy and would reflect deeply on the nature of existence.

As the years passed, he became curious about what lay beyond the palace gates, those gates which were always firmly shut and guarded. He was never allowed to roam freely beyond the confines of the palaces. Whenever he went anywhere it was always formally, with a huge entourage and lots of pomp and circumstance. Suddenly, he felt like a prisoner and he wondered, 'What is it like out there? How do other people live?' He knew what it was like when things were organized for him, when the streets were lined with cheering crowds and festooned with colourful flags and banners, but what was it like to mix with the ordinary people on an ordinary day, when they did not know who he was? His curiosity grew.

Siddhattha knew his father would never agree to his wandering unofficially and unannounced, and so he plotted with his charioteer to slip by the palace guards. They drove unseen one day through the gates, out and along the tracks leading to town. There they joined the crowds, unnoticed in their ordinary garb, and mingled freely with the people.

Siddhattha was fascinated by all that he saw — everyone going about their business, groups chatting, lively trading on the roadside. And then he noticed something strange – was it a man? He could not be sure. It seemed to be like a man, but it was all bent up, incredibly wrinkled, covered in rags, and begging. Siddhattha asked the charioteer: 'What kind of being is this? Why does he look so strange? What's wrong with him?'

'This is simply an old man,' said the charioteer, 'We all get old.' Siddhattha was taken aback, shocked even. Would he and his family get old? Does everyone become decrepit like that man? Shaken by this revelation, Siddhattha asked to be taken home where he contemplated that man and old age.

Sickness and Death

Siddhattha's curiosity was roused even more now, and he made a second trip with his faithful charioteer to the nearby town where people lived so differently. This time, they happened to come across a sick man, writhing in agony and covered in sores. Turning to his charioteer once more for an explanation, he was told, 'This is a sick man. Sickness comes in many forms to all of us in time, before we die.' Wistfully, the prince turned away, but just in time to see a funeral procession passing by, and a dead body being transported to the pyre. 'And this?'

'This is death,' said the charioteer, 'and these are the mourners.'

Sickness? Death? Once again, a saddened and pensive prince returned to the palace, disturbed by the things he did not expect to see.

Leaving Home

Siddhattha had become deeply aware that all beings become old, get sick and die. The legend is that this was the first time he encountered such things in life, but perhaps it was that this was the first time he had become completely conscious of them, and it brought on a lot of questioning: 'What was life all about if it ends like this?' He could not stop thinking about it and became completely unsettled, his own luxurious way of life losing all of its meaning and charm.

Suddenly, the most important thing in the world for him was to know the reasons for life's miseries – why people suffered in poverty and sickness, why all beings were born, apparently just to die. Deep within himself he felt the need, the compulsion, to find out. 'Surely,' he told himself, 'someone must know the truth of all this – the holy men, perhaps?'

Despite the pleas of his wife and his father, and despite the fact that he had a young son, Rahula, Siddhattha left home in search of truth and enlightenment. He was twenty-nine.

Searching for Truth

At first, he lived in the way that other holy men lived in those days, dressed in rags and begging food, sometimes subsisting on whatever wild fruits and nuts could be found in the forest, sometimes not eating at all. He learned how to be an ascetic, how to meditate, how to perform rites and rituals.

Six years passed, six austere years, under first one guru and then another – meditating, searching passionately for truth, undertaking severe ascetic practices which left him weak and near to death. It is said that at the culmination of these practices he was eating just one grain of rice a day and slowly starving to death. Then, as he became aware that his life-energy was ebbing away, he suddenly realized the futility of what he was doing. He began to take stock of himself and contemplated the past few years. What progress had he made? What had he accomplished by performing religious rites and rituals, by contemplating philosophical views, by the self-infliction of physical pain? None of these things had led to truth. He realized that to kill the senses was no better than to overindulge them, that ascetic practices were pointless, and that the gurus he had met were not fully enlightened. Suddenly, he knew what he must do and became resolute.

The Cool of a Tree

He ate a meal of rice – the first really nourishing meal he had had for a long time. And then, revitalized and inspired, he sought the cool of a tree. Now he was determined and completely ready to turn within himself, to seek for the answers there, leaving aside all the practices and methods he had learned and had become reliant upon. Touching the earth with his hand, he called upon it to bear witness, determining never again to rise from that spot until complete enlightenment had been realized.

Enlightenment

Siddhattha's mind, having grown tired of beliefs, views and opinions, became tranquil, yet alert. He saw the fears and temptations within himself, and recognized them as the nature of evil. He noticed that that recognition alone broke their spell. He turned away from all the fears and temptations that were coming up in his mind, and they faded away.

He then contemplated the nature of suffering and the truth of desire. He realized that desire brought dissatisfaction and sorrow, and that there was no anguish without desire. All forms of wanting came to an end within him, even wanting truth; it all died away, and with it all dissatisfaction and suffering came to a complete stop.

Then came the realization that the thinking mind and the physical body are constantly changing, utterly impermanent, that there is nothing solid and fixed in either of them. He saw that it was his attachment to particular thoughts and specific forms which gave rise to the idea of 'self', 'me', believing that he owned a mind and owned a body, and he began to realize that birth, decay and death were the province of thoughts and forms only, and were not of the true nature of what he was.

Then he woke up to the unborn, the uncreated, the unmade, out of which came all that is born, created, and made. The truth dawned on him, and all manner of mysteries unfolded. He knew then he was fully awakened, Buddha.

The First Teaching

After his enlightenment, Siddhattha deliberated on whether to teach others. He was not at all sure it was possible to convey what he had realized, something so subtle and beyond words. Could he make it understandable through language, through concepts, through explanations? Despite a resistance to do so, he knew he must try, and he decided to look for the companions who had left him at the abandonment of his ascetic practices.

He found them at the Deer Park in Sarnath near Benares, and it was to these five that Siddhattha Gotama, now the Buddha, gave his first sermon. This, one might say, was where the teaching of Buddhism began.

The Buddha taught for the next forty-five years until he left this life at the age of eighty.

The Word 'Buddha'

The word 'buddha' is not a proper name; it is a Pali word meaning 'awakened'. Siddhattha became the Buddha, the Awakened One, the Fully Enlightened One, in the same way that Jesus became Christ.

The word 'buddha', then, is a generic term and can refer to any being or state of being which is awakened, but references to 'the Buddha' usually imply Siddhattha, the man who became the Buddha. He was also called Gotama Buddha, Gotama being his family name.

When referring to himself, the Buddha used the term 'Tathagata' which means 'thus come', 'just being here and now, spontaneously, without a personal identity'.

Aims & Beliefs

The Transcendence of Suffering

The aim of Buddhism is to awaken to truth, to tread the path of enlightenment, instead of the path of delusion. One does not become enlightened; one lives in freedom from delusion and in harmony with wisdom and compassion. This is a living truth, not something that one attains as an attribute.

There may seem to be an emphasis in Buddhism on suffering, and it is sometimes criticized as being a pessimistic religion. The emphasis, however, is really upon the truth of suffering and its cessation. The idea is to own up to one's own fears, anxieties, irritations and disappointments in life – which can be quite daunting – and then to transcend and find deliverance from them. Recognition is, in itself, the way of transcendence. Sometimes this can be a single act – the recognition of suffering and the transcending of it may occur simultaneously.

Know for Yourself

Enlightenment is a way of life which can be experienced by anyone. There are seven characteristics by which it can be known.

Seven Marks of Enlightenment

Mindfulness

Investigation

Energy

Joyous zest

Tranquillity

Concentartion

Equanimity

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Excerpted from Theravada Buddhism by Diana St Ruth, Richard St Ruth. Copyright © 2007 Bravo Ltd. Excerpted by permission of Bravo Ltd.
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