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.