.
"Partial to pine cliffs and lonely trails,
This old man laughs at himself when he falters.
Even now after all these years,
Trusting the current like an unmoored boat."
~ Shih-Te ~ (Shide)
8th cen.? Chinese poet in Ch’an/Zen/Taoist style.
Friend of Han Shan
19 August 2005
16 August 2005
The Buddha is NOT Hotei, the fat laughing monk
It is common to confuse two Buddhist figures who are, in fact, separate characters. The fat laughing monk with the pot belly, is NOT "The Buddha." That is, he is not the same as the founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha. Myth asserts that this fat monk, Hotei, will be reborn as the *next* Buddha, an immeasurably long time from now.
.
The founder of Buddhism -- 2,500 years ago in India -- was Siddhartha Gautama of the Sakyans. *This* is the historical Buddha. He left a life of riches to be a starving ascetic monk in the forest for six years. He nearly died of undernourishment and realized that this was not fruitful for his quest, so he decided on a Middle Way between starvation and gluttony.
.
He then sat in meditation and reached Awakening, thus becoming known as The Buddha, meaning "The Awakened One." He is often identified as the Sakyamuni Buddha ("sage of the Sakyan clan"), because legends say that there were several Buddhas eons before him and one to come in the far distant future.
.
For the rest of his life, The Buddha ate just one meal a day. Statues of Gautama Buddha show a figure that is trim and not obese. The controlled smile is usually one of benevolence, equanimity, serenity and wisdom.
.
The jolly pot-bellied monk is Hotei. (Japanese: Hotei. Chinese: Pu-Tai Ho-shang.) Hotei is said to have been a monk in a former birth. He is a bodhisattva and will be the next Buddha, named Maitreya, in the far distant future.
.
A bodhisattva is a saint, primarily emphasized in Mahayana Buddhism, who has taken a vow to postpone his own entry into the bliss of Nirvana until he has helped ready *all* sentient beings in the world to enter with him. This will take *many* rebirths.
.
So, Hotei was believed to be a "Pre-birth" of a future Buddha. He is now residing in a heavenly realm for an extremely long sojourn before someday, eons from now, being reborn as a human again and becoming Maitreya Buddha. As Maitreya, he will lead *all* beings to Awakening. So Hotei laughs, for he knows that all sentient beings will eventually enter the bliss of Nirvana with him.
.
Theravada Buddhism, in Southeastern Asia, is more centered on Gautama Buddha and his teachings. The various traditions of Mahayana Buddhism in East Asia honor other Buddhas and bodhisattvas in addition to the historical Buddha, and this is the area where the traditions about Hotei are more widespread.
.
Many people today confuse the two characters. Hotei would just laugh out loud about it. The Buddha would smile.
.
-Zenwind.
.
The founder of Buddhism -- 2,500 years ago in India -- was Siddhartha Gautama of the Sakyans. *This* is the historical Buddha. He left a life of riches to be a starving ascetic monk in the forest for six years. He nearly died of undernourishment and realized that this was not fruitful for his quest, so he decided on a Middle Way between starvation and gluttony.
.
He then sat in meditation and reached Awakening, thus becoming known as The Buddha, meaning "The Awakened One." He is often identified as the Sakyamuni Buddha ("sage of the Sakyan clan"), because legends say that there were several Buddhas eons before him and one to come in the far distant future.
.
For the rest of his life, The Buddha ate just one meal a day. Statues of Gautama Buddha show a figure that is trim and not obese. The controlled smile is usually one of benevolence, equanimity, serenity and wisdom.
.
The jolly pot-bellied monk is Hotei. (Japanese: Hotei. Chinese: Pu-Tai Ho-shang.) Hotei is said to have been a monk in a former birth. He is a bodhisattva and will be the next Buddha, named Maitreya, in the far distant future.
.
A bodhisattva is a saint, primarily emphasized in Mahayana Buddhism, who has taken a vow to postpone his own entry into the bliss of Nirvana until he has helped ready *all* sentient beings in the world to enter with him. This will take *many* rebirths.
.
So, Hotei was believed to be a "Pre-birth" of a future Buddha. He is now residing in a heavenly realm for an extremely long sojourn before someday, eons from now, being reborn as a human again and becoming Maitreya Buddha. As Maitreya, he will lead *all* beings to Awakening. So Hotei laughs, for he knows that all sentient beings will eventually enter the bliss of Nirvana with him.
.
Theravada Buddhism, in Southeastern Asia, is more centered on Gautama Buddha and his teachings. The various traditions of Mahayana Buddhism in East Asia honor other Buddhas and bodhisattvas in addition to the historical Buddha, and this is the area where the traditions about Hotei are more widespread.
.
Many people today confuse the two characters. Hotei would just laugh out loud about it. The Buddha would smile.
.
-Zenwind.
10 August 2005
Beginner's Buddhism
I have been asked by a lot of people for an introduction to Buddhism for those not too familiar with it. Although I have been very much into Buddhism, especially Zen, for 35 years, I still consider myself a real tenderfoot in my understanding of it. But I will give a bare-bones sketch of the main traditions for anyone interested and then provide several links that may help in one’s own research.
A caveat. I am quite a skeptic about most things, so I take many things in Buddhism with a bucket of salt. Much in the traditions are, to me, mythology and unbelievable miracle stories. Beautiful mythology, to be sure, and mythology that is often capable of teaching profound truths. But belief in myths is not of primary importance in Buddhism. The Buddha said that many questions and doctrines "do not tend toward edification" and should, therefore, be put aside so that the important questions can be focused on. He was always looked at as a kind of physician that healed spiritual ills. He said:
"The non-doing of any evil
The performance of what is skillful
The cleansing of one’s own mind.
This is the teaching of the Awakened."
~(Dhammapada, 183)~
Buddhism is actually better thought of as a *family* of religions. Over the last 2,500 years, it has developed into a vast variety of loosely related systems. I will just briefly outline the three big divisions here.
*Theravada* (formerly called "Hinayana") is dominant in Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, and its name means "teaching of the elders." Its Pali canon of writings are some of the oldest of composed Buddhist texts. I have been attempting to study this a lot lately, because I am interested in early historical Buddhism as close as possible to the Buddha’s original teachings. My wife, Sudawon, is Thai, and she grew up in the Theravada tradition.
*Mahayana* is a wide tradition of sects that you find in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. It includes such different schools as Zen, Pure Land, and many others. Zen is the Buddhist tradition I first got acquainted with, and it defined my practice very early. (Zen is called Ch’an in China, where it originated, and it has some Taoist elements.)
*Vajrayana* (or Tibetan Buddhism) is the school you find in Tibet, Bhutan, and in the areas of Tibetan refugees. This school is very popular in the West and among celebrities. When the Dalai Lama makes a world tour, it is a big event. I do not know much about this tradition.
Some links:
http://accesstoinsight.org
Access to Insight. This site is one of the best for Theravada Buddhism. Click on "What is Theravada Buddhism" for a good intro.
http://www.buddhanet.net
This is BuddhaNet, a site that tries to cover it all, and does a very decent job. At upper left corner of page, find a link to "Buddhist Studies," then to "Basic Buddhist Guide." I have not personally explored this much, but the site has long been known for its integrity.
http://www.saigon.com/~anson
Buddha Sasana by Binh Anson is highly recommended and said to have good intro pages, but I have not explored this well.
http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism
This is E-Sangha. It is a huge, wide-open e-forum for people interested in Buddhism, and I have been spending a lot of time there, both asking and answering questions. Because it is a public forum, there is a lot of uneven quality of posting. Some are very helpful, some not. Try the forum there called "Beginners Buddhism," and look for useful topics among the many listed.
The book, *Buddha*, by Karen Armstrong is very good. (See my brief review of it below.)
Check out the movie, *Little Buddha* with Keanu Reeves as the Buddha. It has two story lines: one following the biography of the Buddha; and the other deals with a 20th century Vajrayana story, with beautiful footage of Bhutan and also of the temple (with the "eyes" on top) in Kathmandu, Nepal that is said to have been built by the daughter of King Asoka.
-Zenwind.
A caveat. I am quite a skeptic about most things, so I take many things in Buddhism with a bucket of salt. Much in the traditions are, to me, mythology and unbelievable miracle stories. Beautiful mythology, to be sure, and mythology that is often capable of teaching profound truths. But belief in myths is not of primary importance in Buddhism. The Buddha said that many questions and doctrines "do not tend toward edification" and should, therefore, be put aside so that the important questions can be focused on. He was always looked at as a kind of physician that healed spiritual ills. He said:
"The non-doing of any evil
The performance of what is skillful
The cleansing of one’s own mind.
This is the teaching of the Awakened."
~(Dhammapada, 183)~
Buddhism is actually better thought of as a *family* of religions. Over the last 2,500 years, it has developed into a vast variety of loosely related systems. I will just briefly outline the three big divisions here.
*Theravada* (formerly called "Hinayana") is dominant in Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, and its name means "teaching of the elders." Its Pali canon of writings are some of the oldest of composed Buddhist texts. I have been attempting to study this a lot lately, because I am interested in early historical Buddhism as close as possible to the Buddha’s original teachings. My wife, Sudawon, is Thai, and she grew up in the Theravada tradition.
*Mahayana* is a wide tradition of sects that you find in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. It includes such different schools as Zen, Pure Land, and many others. Zen is the Buddhist tradition I first got acquainted with, and it defined my practice very early. (Zen is called Ch’an in China, where it originated, and it has some Taoist elements.)
*Vajrayana* (or Tibetan Buddhism) is the school you find in Tibet, Bhutan, and in the areas of Tibetan refugees. This school is very popular in the West and among celebrities. When the Dalai Lama makes a world tour, it is a big event. I do not know much about this tradition.
Some links:
http://accesstoinsight.org
Access to Insight. This site is one of the best for Theravada Buddhism. Click on "What is Theravada Buddhism" for a good intro.
http://www.buddhanet.net
This is BuddhaNet, a site that tries to cover it all, and does a very decent job. At upper left corner of page, find a link to "Buddhist Studies," then to "Basic Buddhist Guide." I have not personally explored this much, but the site has long been known for its integrity.
http://www.saigon.com/~anson
Buddha Sasana by Binh Anson is highly recommended and said to have good intro pages, but I have not explored this well.
http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism
This is E-Sangha. It is a huge, wide-open e-forum for people interested in Buddhism, and I have been spending a lot of time there, both asking and answering questions. Because it is a public forum, there is a lot of uneven quality of posting. Some are very helpful, some not. Try the forum there called "Beginners Buddhism," and look for useful topics among the many listed.
The book, *Buddha*, by Karen Armstrong is very good. (See my brief review of it below.)
Check out the movie, *Little Buddha* with Keanu Reeves as the Buddha. It has two story lines: one following the biography of the Buddha; and the other deals with a 20th century Vajrayana story, with beautiful footage of Bhutan and also of the temple (with the "eyes" on top) in Kathmandu, Nepal that is said to have been built by the daughter of King Asoka.
-Zenwind.
05 August 2005
*Buddha* by Karen Armstrong
I just finished reading *Buddha* by Karen Armstrong, and I really liked it.
From my limited knowledge of the scholarship of Buddhist history, I think Armstrong did a decent job of writing a book for the general public in 187 pages (a Penguin paperback) and still keeping a historian’s objectivity and covering many important topics. I was pleasantly surprised. It should do well informing curious Western readers about the founder of Buddhism, his historical context and his message.
-Zenwind.
From my limited knowledge of the scholarship of Buddhist history, I think Armstrong did a decent job of writing a book for the general public in 187 pages (a Penguin paperback) and still keeping a historian’s objectivity and covering many important topics. I was pleasantly surprised. It should do well informing curious Western readers about the founder of Buddhism, his historical context and his message.
-Zenwind.
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