The main ideas and directions of Buddhism
Buddha statue (India)
The teachings of Buddhism are presented in the form of special collections. The central place is occupied by the canon written in the Pali language (therefore also called Pali) - "Tipitaka" (which means "Three baskets"):
Vinaya Pitaka (Basket of Discipline)
Sutra Pitaka (Basket of Conversations)
"Abhidhamma pitaka" ("Basket", which contains the fundamentals of the teachings mentioned in the second "basket")
The basis of the doctrine is the "four great truths":
1. Life is suffering.
2. The cause of all suffering is desire.
3. Suffering can be ended by giving up all desires.
4. To do this, you need to lead a virtuous life according to the laws of “correct behavior” and correct knowledge ”(do not kill or harm anyone, do not steal, do not lie, do not commit adultery and do not use intoxicating drinks, engage in inner contemplation (meditate)).
Buddhism is a polytheistic religion that does not have a single creator god. Buddhists believe that there are many worlds and spaces in which life develops from birth to death and a new rebirth.
By the beginning of our era, two directions were formed in Buddhism:
the “narrow” path of salvation (hinayana) - only monks can be saved (i.e. achieve nirvana);
“broad” way of salvation (mahayana) - all believers can be saved. In the III - I centuries. BC. Buddhism spread south and southeast of India in the form of the Hinayana. From the beginning of our era, Buddhism began to move north and northeast in the form of the Mahayana.
In India itself, at the beginning of the second millennium AD. Buddhism practically disappeared, the surviving monks settled in Nepal and Tibet.
Buddhism in Russia
History reference
The first evidence of the existence of Buddhism in the territory of modern Russia dates back to the 8th century AD. and are associated with the state of Bohai, which in 698-926. occupied part of today's Primorye and Amur region. The Bohai, whose culture was greatly influenced by neighboring China, Korea and Manchuria, professed Buddhism, one of the directions of the Mahayana.
The second penetration of Buddhism into Russia occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries, when nomadic tribes from western Mongolia—who called themselves Oirats and were known to others as Kalmyks—came to the Volga region via Siberia. The Oirats adopted Tibetan Buddhism as early as the 13th century, and they received initial initiations from the lamas of the “red-capped” Sakya and Kagyu schools. By the time they arrived in the Volga region, due to the peculiarities of the political situation in Tibet, they mostly moved to Gelug, the school of the Dalai Lamas.
From the 17th century, Tibetan Buddhism also spread to Buryatia - it came here thanks to local ascetics who studied in Tibet, mainly in Gelug monasteries, and then brought the Buddha's Teachings to their country.
In 1741, by decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, Buddhism was recognized as one of the Russian religions.
For centuries, Buddhist culture has developed on the territory of Russia. The presence of two Buddhist regions within the empire and the close proximity of other countries with Buddhist culture largely contributed to the fact that in the 19th and early 20th centuries one of the most powerful oriental schools in the world was formed in Russia. Departments of Sanskritology, Tibetology, Sinology were opened at the universities of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Kharkov, as well as other major scientific centers, the most important Buddhist treatises were translated, and expeditions to Asia were equipped. Proceedings of V.P. Vasiliev (1818–1900), F.I. Shcherbatsky (1866–1942), E.E. Obermiller (1901–1935) and other prominent domestic orientalists serve as a model for scientists around the world. With the active assistance of leading Buddhist scholars and the support of the tsarist government, the Buryat lama Agvan Dordzhiev built a datsan (Buddhist temple) in St. Petersburg in 1915.
In the difficult 1930s, a period of persecution of Buddhism and Buddhology as a science began. Many lamas and monks died in the camps, most temples and monasteries were closed or destroyed. For almost two decades, any Buddhist studies completely ceased in Russia.
A partial revival of Buddhism and the Buddhist tradition began in the 1950s and 1960s, but they were officially rehabilitated only at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. In 1989, a group of Buddhology of the St. Petersburg branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences was created under the leadership of V.I. Rudogo is the first officially formalized Buddhist direction since the time of Shcherbatsky. Since then, other branches and departments of Buddhism have also appeared in several universities, and the process of rebuilding Oriental studies as a whole is going faster and faster. Simultaneously, in Buryatia, Kalmykia, Tuva, the surviving Buddhist temples are being restored and new ones are being opened, educational institutions are being set up at monasteries, and Tibetan teachers are being invited. At present, many Buddhist schools are represented in Russia: Theravada, Japanese and Korean Zen, several directions of the Mahayana, and practically all schools of Tibetan Buddhism that exist in the world. According to the latest census, about 900,000 Russians call themselves Buddhists.
Today, the Russian Association of Buddhists of the Diamond Way of the Karma Kagyu Tradition is the largest Buddhist organization in the Russian Federation in terms of representation in the subjects of the federation.
Modern Buddhism
Modern Buddhism: main features
At the moment, Buddhism, despite the upheavals it underwent in the 20th century, is one of the three world religions, with about 800 million followers, most of whom live in East and Southeast Asia. The end of the existence of an independent Buddhist state came in 1959, when China captured Lhasa, after which the 14th Dalai Lama was forced to leave the Holy City and continue his missionary work to spread the Buddhist faith outside his homeland. At present, the conflict between the Chinese government and the Buddhist hierarchs headed by the Dalai Lama remains unresolved, so numerous Buddhists living in China are forced to do without the spiritual guidance of their mentor and head, although a separate Buddhist church of China was organized at the suggestion of the Communist Party of China having its own chapter. The 14th Dalai Lama is actively engaged in educational activities, making official or unofficial visits to almost all countries of the world where Buddhist communities exist (in 2004 he visited the territory of Russia).
The German religious scholar G. Rothermundt identifies the following directions for the revitalization of Buddhism in the 20th century.
1. Strengthening the role of Buddhism in both purely religious and political aspects in Southeast Asia. Already in 1950, the World Fellowship of Buddhists was organized in Sri Lanka (Ceylon), the residence of which was moved to Thailand a few years later. Particularly noticeable manifestations of this Buddhist "renaissance" became noticeable in the 1960s, which was served by the active protests of Buddhist monks against the use of napalm by the United States during the war with Vietnam. Several monks in 1963 and 1970 staged public self-immolations in protest against such an inhumane way of warfare.
2. The emergence of new religious trends and sects, the doctrine of which is dominated by the principles of the Buddhist religion. This process is especially active in Japan, where traditional Buddhist views are being reoriented in the light of modern problems and questions that ordinary people demand answers from religion. So, by the mid-1960s. the number of Buddhist sects in Japan exceeded 165, although this number does not yet mean a qualitative assimilation of Buddhist teachings. Most of these sects focus their attention not on issues of dogma, but, interpreting the main provisions of the Buddhist religion in a simplified way, turn to the solution of topical social issues, for example, they try to solve the question of the justification for the widespread use of technical innovations from a religious position.
3. The revival of the Buddhist movement in India. Almost disappeared on the Hindustan Peninsula in the Middle Ages under the pressure of orthodox Hindus and Muslims, Buddhism is gradually returning to its homeland. This is obviously due to the change in Indian society itself, which is gradually being freed from caste and varna enslavement, which requires corresponding changes in the religious system. Buddhism turns out to be more convenient and in demand by the general population. The first steps towards the return of Buddhism were associated with the decision of the Indian government to allocate territory in the north of the country for the location of the residence of the Dalai Lama, who was expelled from Tibet in 1959. It was on the territory of this residence that the First World Council of Buddhists was held in 1976, with delegates from almost all over the world.
4. Striving for the gradual unification of the various Buddhist sects. This process goes in parallel with the formation of new sects, but it is aimed at reaching an agreement between the traditional areas of Buddhism, primarily between representatives of the Mahayana and Hinayana. Despite the discrepancies that exist between representatives of various branches of Buddhist teachings, the Dalai Lama has been trying in recent years to intensify the process of centralization of various sects and schools under the auspices of Tibetan Buddhism.
5. The activation of missionary activity and the penetration of Buddhism into the countries of Western Europe and the USA. A special role in this process should be recognized for Dr. Suzuki (1870-1960), a representative of Japanese Zen Buddhism. Numerous books and brochures written by him in a popular science style, which set out the postulates of Zen Buddhist teaching in a simple and accessible form, became especially popular in the second half of the 20th century. Of course, such an interpretation of the Buddhist canon leads to an almost complete rejection of rituals and rituals, but much attention is paid to koans - riddles that cannot be solved with the help of logic, but can move a person to instant insight. The confession of Buddhism in such a simplified form led to the fashion for other oriental teachings - feng shui, divination from the I-ching book, etc.
To these five areas of Buddhism revitalization, we can add the sixth - the restoration and rapid development of Buddhism in Russia. The history of Russian Buddhism dates back to the 18th century, when the peoples traditionally professing the Buddhist religion, Kalmyks, Buryats, joined the Russian Empire (at the beginning of the 20th century, they were joined by Tuvans). Before the revolution of 1917, Buddhism was under the patronage of the Russian government: under the datsans, according to the decree of Empress Elizabeth I of 1741, schools were opened in which the indigenous population studied. One of the mentors of the future Dalai Lama XIII was the Buryat Lama Agvan Dorzhiev.
After the October Revolution in Russia, a struggle began against both shamanists and Buddhists. In 1931, the Mongolian and Kalmyk-Oirat types of writing were replaced by the Latin alphabet, in 1939 - by the Cyrillic alphabet. From 1927 to 1938, all 47 datsans and dugans that previously existed in the Baikal region and Buryatia were closed and destroyed. Not a single datsan operated from 1938 to 1946, only in 1947 two monasteries resumed work - Ivolginsky and Aginsky. The next increase in the number of datsans occurred only in 1991, but it was significant - by 10 at once. At present, it is in the Ivolginsky datsan that the residence of the head of Russian Buddhists and the viceroy of the Dalai Lama of KSU, who bears the title of Bandido Khambo Lama, is located.
The most important position of the Buddhist doctrine is the idea of identity between being and suffering. Buddhism did not refute the doctrine of the transmigration of souls developed by Brahmanism, i.e. the belief that after death any living being is reborn again in the form of a new living being (human, animal, deity, spirit, etc.).
However, Buddhism made significant changes to the teachings of Brahminism, If the Brahmins argued that through rituals, sacrifices and spells that are different for each class (“varna”), one can ...
The Western Buddhist community is growing. Did the Tibetan Buddhist teachers have to make any changes in order to teach Western students?
From the 1960s and early 70s in Asia (in India, Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan), lamas began to hold public teachings, which were originally intended for the Tibetan community, but the participation of Western students was always welcome.
Except when it comes to the high level of tantric teachings. But even in this case, if the representative ...
There is a lot of controversy about Buddhism in the world. This is a very interesting religion. My opinion is that the main essence of Buddhism is endless peace, spiritual tranquility and peace.
The Middle Way of the Buddha: "The Four Great Truths" and the Path of the Eight Stages
The path to enlightenment that Gautama offered to people is called the middle path, that is, in order to achieve the state of nirvana, a person, on the one hand, should not torture himself with strict asceticism, as prescribed by the religious system of Jainism, and on the other hand, in .. .
Buddhism is the first of the world religions, which arose in the VI century. BC e. In the future, he won millions of followers in different countries of the world and especially in Asia.
The emergence of Buddhism is associated with the name of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha).
He was born around 560 BC. e. The place of his birth is considered to be northeast India near the border of Nepal. Prince Gautama was the son of the head of the Shakya tribe. At the age of 29, he parted with a carefree, luxurious life, left home, left his wife and son and went wandering...
Orthodoxy is one of the main directions of Christianity, widespread among many peoples of the world, especially in almost all countries of Eastern Europe, as well as in the Balkans.
The basis of the Orthodox dogma is the Niketsarygrad creed.
In 12 paragraphs of this symbol, certain ideas about God as a creator, his relationship to man and the world were formulated. This also includes views on the trinity of God, redemption, incarnation, baptism, resurrection from the dead ...
Buddhism is the oldest world religion, dating back to the teachings of the Indian ascetic Shakyamuni, nicknamed the Buddha (“enlightened”, “awakened”). Buddhists themselves date their religion from the death of the Buddha, but there is no complete agreement among them regarding the dating of the time of his life (according to the tradition of the Theravada school.
The Buddha lived from 624 to 544 BC; according to the scientific version, taking into account the Greek evidence for the date of the coronation of Ashoka, from 566 to 486 BC; according to the latest...
Buddhism is the name given to a religious movement whose origins are in the life and teachings of the great Buddha. But more strictly speaking, Buddhism means the unchanging teaching or Dharma that lies behind all that is transient.
At the center of Buddhism is the doctrine of the "4 noble truths": there is suffering, its cause, the state of liberation and the path to it.
Suffering and liberation are subjective states and at the same time a certain cosmic reality: suffering is a state of anxiety, tension...
Buddhism spread throughout most of Europe. countries; buddha org-tion, centers or small groups are practical. in all countries of the West. Europe, as well as in East countries. Europe. Almost in all Western European. countries are branches of the international Buddha.
Organization “Soka Gakkai International”. The oldest in Europe are the Buddhas. organizations in Germany (since 1903), Great Britain (since 1907), France (since 1929). In 1906, the German Buddhist Mission Society held a Buddhist Congress in Leipzig, in which ...
The oldest of the world religions is Buddhism. Buddhism arose in the VI-V centuries. BC e. in North India. Siddhartha Gautama is considered the founder of Buddhism. The main provisions of Buddhism are set forth in the "sacred" book - the so-called Tripitaka. Arising, in all likelihood, as one of the sects of Brahminism, Buddhism adopted a number of provisions from this religion, in particular the teachings of karma and samsara. At the same time, Buddhism criticized caste system and banned the sacrifices practiced by Brahmanism. The Buddhist religion teaches that life in all its manifestations is a chain of suffering, deliverance from which can be achieved by righteous people in nirvana - complete non-existence. Buddhism began to be divided into sects quite early. BC religion split into two directions - Theravada and Mahayana.Theravada, or Hinayana (small vehicle), which arose in Eastern India, preaches the "narrow path of salvation." According to this teaching, nirvana can only be achieved by a narrow circle of people - monasticism. Theravada is closer in character to the early schools of Buddhism and much more resolutely demands the renunciation of all worldly things. It is characteristic that in Theravada the Buddha does not yet act as a god, but as a man of exceptional moral purity, a great teacher who showed other people the path to salvation.
The Mahayana (great vehicle) promises a “broad path of salvation.” According to this teaching, not only a monk, but also a layman can achieve nirvana.
Buddhism is the oldest world religion. Buddhism has become a world religion due to the spread to the countries of South, Southeast, Central Asia and the Far East. Buddhism currently has about 700 million followers.
Formulating your teaching. The Buddha relied on the Brahmin tradition familiar to all Indians. He uses in his teaching the principle of rebirth (samsara), the ideas of retribution (karma), the righteous path (dharma).
The Buddha's teaching says: "Just as a master who makes a bow and arrow whittles an arrow and makes it straight, so does an intelligent person correct his soul." A person who can keep his soul from thirst, from anger and from all evils, can find true peace.
These attitudes of the Buddha were formulated in the form of four main provisions of his creed:
1. The essence of life is suffering.
2. The cause of suffering is desire and attachment.
3. To get rid of suffering, it is necessary to uproot desires and attachments.
4. For this, it is necessary to lead a virtuous life according to the laws of correct behavior and moral knowledge (the so-called eightfold path, which will be discussed a little later) leading to enlightenment and through it to nirvana.
According to Buddhist teaching, people are not alone on the path to enlightenment, the Buddha helps them in this, as well as bodhisattvas - beings who have to take the last step to achieve nirvana, but who do not consciously take it to help people find peace. However, the main thing on this path must be done by the person himself. Enlightenment and nirvana is achieved at the cost of one's own efforts. To do this, a person must travel the path along the "eightfold road." What are the main milestones of this path:
1. Correct views, i.e., views based on "noble truths." Correct determination, that is, readiness for a feat in the name of truth.
3. Correct speech, that is, benevolent, sincere, truthful.
4. Right conduct, i.e., not doing evil.
5. The right way of life, i.e. peaceful, honest, clean.
6. Right effort, i.e. self-education and self-control.
7. Right attention, i.e., active vigilance of consciousness.
8. Correct concentration, i.e., correct methods of contemplation and meditation.
Man in Buddhism
Buddhism is older than Christianity for at least 500, and Islam for 1,300 years. This religion is characterized by a special view of man. In Buddhism, not the relationship between God and man, but the inner world and the problems of man himself are put at the head.
Buddhism speaks of countless worlds inhabited by a wide variety of creatures. And in our world, people are not alone - they are one of the six classes of intelligent (conscious) beings. And they all suffer. The inhabitants of hell endure unbearable pain from heat, cold and torture. Insatiable spirits suffer from constant hunger and thirst, animals - from their own stupidity, fear and oppression by people. Demons spend their time in continuous struggle, overwhelmed by envy and jealousy. The gods, who in Buddhism constitute a separate, numerous class, despite their power and longevity, also experience suffering.
All living beings die and are born again, and a new birth, more or less favorable, is due to karma - the general result of actions in the current and previous lives. The constant cycle of birth and death is called samsara in Buddhism. The human birth among all others is the most conducive to attaining liberation. Humans do not suffer as much as ghosts or animals, and are not as carefree as deities. Human existence provides enough incentives and real opportunities to engage in spiritual practice.
At the same time, Buddhism emphasizes that any living beings are equally worthy of compassion, since they experience torment and in one of their lives you can find yourself in the position of any of them. Everyone can achieve enlightenment because they have Buddha nature. In other words, Buddhism does not elevate a person at the expense of belittling other beings. Fair and merciful treatment of all forms of life is a unique feature of this ancient religion.
Another important point in the Buddhist teaching about man is the denial of the existence of the soul as a single, indivisible and permanent entity. A person, according to Buddhist concepts, is a stream of consciousness, consisting of dharm- separate appearing and disappearing "particles, the vibration of which leads to suffering.
Much attention is paid to the development of compassion for all living things. One of the most authoritative practices, originating from India, was developed in Tibet and was called "tonglen" (literally "give and take"). Those who perform tonglen take into themselves, absorb the suffering and illness of all living beings, and in return give them love and warmth of the heart. Comprehension of human nature in its relationship with the environment gave impetus to the development of various systems of Buddhist yoga and Tibetan medicine.
24. The main directions of Buddhism. Buddhism in Russia, in the North Caucasus
1. At the head of religion is a specific person with his life example and example of piety. People learned to believe in the Buddha and based their lives on this faith.
2. A transition has been made from the religious egoism of the individual to sympathy for others. A Buddhist is always thinking about saving others. The Buddha did not want to immediately go to nirvana upon reaching perfection, as he had the intention to bring the truth to people and live for the salvation of many.
3. Religion is not related to nationality. Entry into Buddhism is not due to birth, but to conversion - the decision to live according to the truths proclaimed by religion. Buddhists do not form a nation, but a community bound by an invisible thread of faith.
4. The dogma largely reflects the peculiarities of the Eastern type of character and thinking.
According to the Buddhists, every being who has reached the highest holiness can become a buddha, that is, enlightened. One of the Buddhas, nicknamed in his earthly life Siddhartha Gautama, told people the doctrine of salvation. Buddhas are the gods of the Buddhist religion. A lot of them. In addition to Siddhartha - the Buddha of the present time, the Great Teacher (when "Buddha" is written with a capital letter, they mean it), there is also the Buddha of the past Kashba, the Buddha of the future Maitreya (who will appear in 8.5 million years), the Buddha Amitabu - "endless light", a symbol of heavenly happiness, etc.
Buddhists believe that after numerous previous rebirths, the coming Buddha decided, to the joy of all the gods, to descend to earth and proclaim to people the path to salvation.
According to legend, the future Buddha was reborn a total of 550 times (83 times he was a saint, 58 times a king, 24 times a monk, 18 times a monkey, 13 times a merchant, 12 times a chicken, 8 times a goose, 6 times an elephant, and also a fish, carpenter, blacksmith, frog, hare, etc.). After an infinite number of rebirths, accumulating virtues in each of them, the Buddha appeared on earth in order to fulfill a saving mission - to show living beings deliverance from suffering. He chose for his incarnation the image of Prince Siddhartha from the noble family of Gotama (hence his family name - Gautama). This clan was part of the Shakya tribe, who lived 500-600 years BC. e. in the valley of the Ganges, in its middle course. The birth of the Buddha in this family was his last birth.
Like the gods of other religions, the Buddha appeared on earth in an unusual way. His mother saw in a dream that a white elephant entered her side. After the due time, she gave birth to a baby through the armpit. One of the sages predicted the accomplishment of a great religious feat for the newborn. The baby was named Siddhartha (who fulfilled his purpose).
Buddha dies at 80. The departure of the Buddha from life Buddhists consider the great transition to nirvana. This date (coinciding with the day of the May full moon) is revered in the same way as the moment of the birth of the Buddha and the moment of "enlightenment", therefore it is called the "thrice holy day."
Different directions and schools of Buddhism date the years of Shakyamuni's life in different ways. In a number of countries it is agreed to consider the date of his death the day of the full moon in May 544 BC.
According to legend, while walking around the city, the Buddha met:
sick;
old man;
A procession burying a dead man;
Having learned about the inevitable suffering of people, at the age of 30 he secretly left his father's house in order to independently answer the question about the meaning of human life, about the causes of human suffering. He studied philosophical systems, mastered practical yoga, meditated on the texts of the sacred books of priests and brahmins and realized that they do not resolve the causes of human suffering.
For 7 years, Gautama stays as a rishi (forest man) and a saman (ascetic). One day, sitting under a Bo (bodhi) tree, he saw a morning star flash in the sky, which caused him an instant understanding of the causes of human suffering and the way to overcome them. So Siddhartha Gautama became a Buddha (Skt. "enlightened").
Buddha, having conquered all doubts (including the temptations of the demon of evil and death Mara), delivered the first sermon in the Deer Park, which became the basis of the Buddhism creed. Five of his future students and two deer listened to her. In it, he briefly formulated the main provisions of the new religion. After the proclamation of the "four noble truths", surrounded by new disciples and followers, the Buddha walked for forty years through the cities and villages of the Ganges valley, working miracles, preaching his teachings.
Buddhism became popular, so King Ashoka (268-232 BC), the third ruler of the Mauryan dynasty, recognized this teaching as the official religion of India. The popularity of Buddhism lay in the doctrine of liberation. According to the new teaching of the Buddha, all living beings suffer, have karma, rotate in samsara, regardless of caste or nationality, and any person can achieve liberation and become a Buddha during his lifetime, that is, the liberation of any person depends only on himself.
The basis of the teachings of Buddhism is the "Four Noble Truths": duhkha, trishna, nirvana, sadhana.
1. Dukhkha (Sanskrit "suffering") - the life that a person leads is suffering. Birth is suffering; health disorder - suffering; death is suffering; sorrow, groaning, grief, misfortune and despair - suffering; union with the unloved - suffering; separation from a loved one is suffering; non-receipt of the passionately desired is suffering; or existence, in which the fivefold attachment to earthly existence is manifested.
2. Trishna (Skt. “grasping”, “clinging”) is the doctrine of the causes of suffering. Trishna - the desire to possess reality. The cause of suffering is in the person himself: it is his thirst for life, power, pleasure, wealth. A person's false knowledge of the world and himself gives rise to trishna, that is, grasping at the real world as something immutable and eternal. Trishna, in turn, gives rise to human deeds, both harmful and beneficial, deeds form karma and samsara - the cycle of births and deaths. Even death cannot get rid of suffering, as the soul returns to samsara.
3. Nirvana (Skt. "fading", "attenuation"). It is possible to stop suffering: for this it is necessary to free oneself from the thirst for life, from desires, to reach a state in which every strong feeling recedes, every desire is suppressed. Nirvana is the ultimate goal of religious salvation, that state of "complete non-existence" in which "rebirth-suffering" ends.
4. Sadhana is a practical path that leads to the suppression of desires. The task of sadhana is to learn to control and produce positive consciousness. This path is commonly referred to as the "middle path" or the "noble eightfold path" of salvation.