"The Tree of
Enlightenment
Dr Peter Della Santina
e
DHANET ' UD
BO
B
O K LIB R A R
E-mail: bdea@buddhanet.net Web site: www.buddhanet.net
Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc.
S
Y
Peter Della Santina
ree of nlightenment
he
n ntroduction to the ajor raditions of uddhism
Chico Dharma Study Foundation Copyright © by Peter Della Santina
About the Author .................................................................................................................... viii Author’s Note ..................................................................................................................................... x
CONTENTS
Part One
Chapter Two e Pre-Buddhist Background ....................................................................................
Chapter One Buddhism: A Modern Perspective.........................................................................
he undamentals of uddhism
Chapter ree e Life of the Buddha ....................................................................................................... Chapter Four e Four Noble Truths ....................................................................................................... Chapter Five Morality ................................................................................................................................................
Chapter Seven Wisdom..................................................................................................................................................
Chapter Six Mental Development .............................................................................................................
Chapter Nine Rebirth.................................................................................................................................................
Chapter Eight Karma ......................................................................................................................................................
Chapter Ten Interdependent Origination ......................................................................................... iv
Chapter Eleven e ree Universal Characteristics ..................................................................
Chapter Twelve e Five Aggregates .............................................................................................................
Chapter irteen e Fundamentals in Practice ..................................................................................
Chapter Fourteen e Origins of the Mahayana Tradition ........................................................ Chapter Fifteen e Lotus Sutra .........................................................................................................................
he ahayana
Part Two
Chapter Sixteen e Heart Sutra ......................................................................................................................... Chapter Seventeen e Lankavatara Sutra ....................................................................................................... Chapter Eighteen e Philosophy of the Middle Way....................................................................
Chapter Nineteen e Philosophy of Mind Only................................................................................... Chapter Twenty e Development of Mahayana Philosophy............................................
Chapter Twenty-One Mahayana Buddhism in Practice ........................................................................ v
Chapter Twenty-Two e Origins of the Vajrayana Tradition .......................................................... Chapter Twenty-ree Philosophical and Religious Foundations................................................... Chapter Twenty-Four Methodology ................................................................................................................................ Chapter Twenty-Five Myth and Symbolism........................................................................................................ Chapter Twenty-Six Psychology, Physiology, and Cosmology ...................................................... Chapter Twenty-Seven e Preliminary Practices ............................................................................................... Chapter Twenty-Eight e Vajrayana Initiation ................................................................................................... Chapter Twenty-Nine Vajrayana Buddhism in Practice.............................................................................
he ajrayana
Part ree
Chapter irty An Introduction to the Abhidharma ................................................................. vi
he bhidharma
Part Four
Chapter irty-One Philosophy & Psychology in the Abhidharma ....................................... Chapter irty-Two Methodology ................................................................................................................................ Chapter irty-ree Analysis of Consciousness .............................................................................................. Chapter irty-Four e Form and Formless Spheres ........................................................................... Chapter irty-Five Supramundane Consciousness ................................................................................. Chapter irty-Six Analysis of Mental States................................................................................................ Chapter irty-Seven Analysis of ought-Processes ................................................................................. Chapter irty-Eight Analysis of Matter ................................................................................................................... Chapter irty-Nine Analysis of Conditionality ............................................................................................ Chapter Forty e irty-Seven Factors of Enlightenment ............................................ Chapter Forty-One Abhidharma in Daily Life ............................................................................................
vii
bout the uthor
P
eter Della Santina was born in the USA. He has spent many years studying and teaching in South and East Asia. He received his BA. in religion from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA in and a MA in philosophy from the University of Delhi, India two years later. He did his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies also from the University of Delhi, India in . He worked for three years for the Institute for Advanced Studies of world Religions, Fort Lee, New Jersey as a research scholar translating th century Buddhist philosophical texts from the Tibetan. He taught at several Universities and Buddhist centers in Europe and Asia including, the University of Pisa in Italy, the National University of Singapore and Tibet House in Delhi, India. He was the Coordinator of the Buddhist Studies project at the Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore, a department of the Ministry of Education from to . More recently, he was a senior fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Simla, India and taught Philosophy at the Fo Kuang Shan Academy of Chinese Buddhism, Kaoh-shiung, Taiwan. For twenty-five years Peter Della Santina has been a student of H.H. Sakya Trizin, leader of the Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism and of eminent abets of the Sakya Tradition. He has practiced Buddhist meditation and has completed a number of retreats. viii
He has published several books and articles in academic journals including Nagarjuna’s Letter to King Gautamiputra, Delhi and and Madhyamaka Schools In India, Delhi and the Madhyamaka and Modern Western Philosophy, Philosophy East and West, Hawaii, .
ix
uthor’s ote
F
rom to when I was in Singapore engaged in the Buddhist studies project at the Curriculum Development Institute, I was invited by the Srilankaramaya Buddhist Temple and a number of Buddhist friends to deliver four series of lectures covering some of the major traditions of Buddhism. e lectures were popular, and thanks to the efforts of Mr. Yeo Eng Chen and others, they were recorded, transcribed and printed for limited free distribution to students of the Dharma. In the years since, the lectures which originally appeared in the form of four separate booklets have remained popular and have even been reprinted from time to time. Consequently, it seemed to me to be desirable to collect the four series of lectures in one volume, and after appropriate revision to publish them for the general use of the public. In keeping with the original objectives of the lectures, this book is – as far as possible – non-technical. It is intended for ordinary readers not having any special expertise in Buddhist studies or in Buddhist canonical languages. Original language terms have therefore been kept to a minimum and foot notes have been avoided. Names of texts cited are sometimes left untranslated, but this is because the English renderings of some titles are awkward and hardly make their subject matter more clear. In brief I hope that this book will serve as the beginning of its readers’ Buddhist education and not the end of it. e book can supply a general introduction to the major traditions of Buddhism, but x
it does not pretend to be complete or definitive. Neither can I honestly affirm that it is altogether free from errors, and therefore I apologize in advance for any that may remain in spite of my best efforts. A number of original language terms and personal names which have by now entered the English language such as ‘Dharma’, ‘karma’, ‘Nirvana’ and ‘Shakyamuni’ have been used throughout the book in their Sanskrit forms. As for the rest, Pali original language terms, text titles and personal names have been retained in parts I and IV which are largely based on Pali sources, while Sanskrit original language technical terms, text titles and personal names have been used in parts II and III which are largely based on Sanskrit and Tibetan sources. Occasionally, this general rule has been ignored when the names of texts and persons referred to in a given context actually occur in another one of the canonical languages. In as much as Pali and Sanskrit are in most cases quite similar, I trust the average reader will have no difficulty in coping with this arrangement. I owe a great debt to a very large number of people for the realization of this book. First and foremost, I would like to thank H.H. Sakya Trizin without whom my interest in Buddhism might well have remained superficial and merely intellectual. Next I would like to thank Yeo Eng Chen and many other members of the Singapore Buddhist community without whose help and encouragement the lectures would never have been delivered and the original transcripts on which this book is based, never made. en, I would also like to thank a great many friends and students in Asia, Europe and America who encouraged me to think the lectures might be useful for an even wider readerxi
ship. Finally, I want to thank all those who have been involved in the actual preparation of the present book. ey include, the members of the Chico Dharma study group, specially, Jo and Jim Murphy, Victoria Scott for her help with the manuscript, L. Jamspal for his help with the original language terms, my wife Krishna Ghosh for the many hours she spent checking the manuscript, and my son Siddhartha Della Santina for the cover design and formatting of the manuscript. In conclusion, I would like to add that by offering this book to the public, the Chico Dharma Study Group hopes to initiate a program whereby Buddhist Studies materials may be made available free of commercial considerations to students of Buddhism through a variety of media. For the time being, the present book will be available not only in hard copy, but also over the internet. In the future, the Chico Dharma Study Group plans to produce and make available important materials in the fields of Buddhist philosophy, practice and folk lore, including materials for children and young adults. We welcome the help of anyone who would like to contribute in any way to the educational activities of the group and we invite you to contact us with your suggestions. Peter Della Santina July, Chico, California, USA. Chico Dharma Study Group Kirk Way, Chico, CA. U.S.A. E-mail: dsantina@ecst.csuchico.edu www: http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~dsantina/ xii
art ne
e undamentals of uddhism
uddhism: odern erspeive
CHAPTER ONE
I
n Part One of this book, it is my intention to cover what I would like to call the fundamentals of Buddhism, that is, the basic teaching of Buddhism. is survey will include the Life of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, karma, rebirth, interdependent origination, the three universal characteristics, and the teaching of the five aggregates. Before the actual treatment of these basic topics, I would like to deal first with the notion of Buddhism in perspective, and that a modern perspective. ere are many ways in which people of different times and different cultures have approached Buddhism, but I believe it may be especially useful to contrast the modern attitude toward Buddhism with the traditional attitude toward it. is kind of comparative consideration may prove useful because understanding how people of different times and cultures view a particular phenomenon can begin to show us the limitations of our own particular perspective. Buddhism has awakened considerable interest in the West, and there are many persons who enjoy positions of some note in western society who are either Buddhist or sympathetic to Buddhism. is is perhaps most clearly exemplified by the remark said to have been made by the great twentieth-century scientist Albert Einstein, that although he was not a religious man, if he had been one, he would have been a Buddhist. At first glance it may seem surprising that such a remark should be made by one regarded as the father of modern western sci
ence. However, if we look more closely at contemporary western society, we find a Buddhist astrophysicist in France, a psychologist who is a Buddhist in Italy, and a leading English judge who is one, too. Indeed, it would not be too much to say that Buddhism is fast becoming the favorite choice of westerners who belong to the elite in the areas of science and art. I will look at the reasons for this in a moment, but before doing so, I would like to compare this situation with that found in traditionally Buddhist communities and countries. Take, for example, the situation among the traditionally Buddhist communities of Southeast and East Asia. In Europe and America, Buddhism is generally believed to be more than usually advanced in its thought, rigorously rational, and sophisticated. I will not attempt to conceal the fact that it came as quite a shock to me when I first went to Southeast Asia and found that many people there view Buddhism as oldfashioned, irrational, and bound up with outdated superstitions. is is one of two prevalent attitudes that obstruct the appreciation of Buddhism in such traditionally Buddhist communities. e other popular misconception that afflicts Buddhism in such communities is the notion that it is so deep and so abstract that no one can ever possibly understand it. Perhaps it is the intellectual arrogance of the West that has saved Europeans and Americans from this aberration. In short, when I look at the common attitudes prevailing in the West and in the East toward Buddhism, I find a radical contrast. is is why I want to begin our examination of Buddhism with a consideration of alternative perspectives. In the West, Buddhism has a certain image in the popular
mind, while in traditionally Buddhist communities, Buddhism has an altogether different image. e dismissive attitude that prevails in such communities has to be overcome before people there can really begin to appreciate the teaching of the Buddha. In this way people everywhere can acquire the balanced perspective needed to approach Buddhism without prejudice and preconceived ideas. Consequently, this introduction to Buddhism is intended not only for people in the West but also for people in traditionally Buddhist communities who may have become estranged from the religion for a variety of social and cultural reasons. It should also be said, of course, that the image of Buddhism common in the West may be limited in its own way, but I hope that, in the chapters that follow, a clear and objective presentation of the traditions of Buddhism will, finally, emerge. For the moment, to turn again to the western attitude toward Buddhism, one of the first features we can appreciate about it is the fact that it is not culture-bound, that is to say, it is not restricted to any particular society, race, or ethnic group. ere are some religions that are culture-bound: Judaism is one example; Hinduism is another. However, Buddhism is not similarly constrained. at is why, historically, we have had the development of Indian Buddhism, Sri Lankan Buddhism, ai Buddhism, Burmese Buddhism, Chinese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, and so on. In the near future, I have no doubt that we will see the emergence of English Buddhism, French Buddhism, Italian Buddhism, American Buddhism, and the like. All this is possible because Buddhism is not culture-bound. It moves very easily from one cultural context to another because its emphasis is on internal practice rather
than external forms of religious behavior. Its emphasis is on the way each practitioner develops his or her own mind, not on how he dresses, the kind of food he eats, the way he wears his hair, and so forth. e second point to which I would like to draw your attention is the pragmatism of Buddhism, that is to say, its practical orientation. Buddhism addresses a practical problem. It is not interested in academic questions and metaphysical theories. e Buddhist approach is to identify a real problem and deal with it in a practical way. Again, this attitude is very much in keeping with western conceptions of utilitarianism and scientific problem-solving. Very briefly, we might say the Buddhist approach is encapsulated in the maxim, “If it works, use it.” is attitude is an integral part of modern western political, economic, and scientific practice. e pragmatic approach of Buddhism is expressed very clearly in the Chulamalunkya Sutta, a discourse in which the Buddha himself made use of the parable of a wounded man. In the story, a man wounded by an arrow wishes to know who shot the arrow, the direction from which it came, whether the arrowhead is bone or iron, and whether the shaft is one kind of wood or another before he will let the arrow be removed. His attitude is likened to that of people who want to know about the origin of the universe – whether it is eternal or not, finite in space or not, and so on – before they will unde..."
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