Historical story

Chapter -16 – Buddhism and its Influence on Indian Culture (b)

Major Principles of Buddhism

The main principles of Buddhism were as follows:

Four Noble Truths (Four Noble Truths)

The cornerstone of Buddhism is its four noble truths. All his other doctrines have developed on the basis of these four noble truths. These four noble truths are as follows-

(1.) All suffering: Sarvam dukkham means there is suffering everywhere. Mahatma Buddha saw the entire humanity terrified of various kinds of suffering. So he came to the conclusion that human and non-human life is suffering. With birth there is pain, destruction is also painful, disease is painful, death is painful, union with the unpleasant is painful, separation from the pleasant is painful, whatever desire remains unsatisfied is also painful.

The five shoulders arising from the passion are the painful ones. Where is the opportunity to celebrate when the whole world is on fire! Celebrating happiness produces suffering. Getting lost in the objects of sense pleasure also produces suffering. Humans must have shed more tears than there is water in the oceans. There is no place on earth where death does not prevail over man. A man wounded by the arrow of affliction should remove it.

Life is full of sorrows. All produced things are suffering and pain. Birth, old age, disease, death, sorrow, suffering, aspiration and despair all arise from attachment. So these are all sufferings too. Thus there is suffering everywhere.

(2.) The community of suffering- Dukh samudayaḥ means that there must be some cause of suffering. According to Mahatma Buddha, craving, which drives the cycle of birth and death, is the root cause of suffering. This craving is of three types:(1.) Kama-craving- For sense pleasures, (2.) Bhava-trishna- For life,

(3.) Potential-thirst- For the glory. He said that this craving is reincarnating, accompanied by attachment and passion and enjoying everywhere. It is like lust-craving or bhava-craving. How is this craving born?

Solving this, the Buddha said:‘When a person becomes attached to form, sound, smell, taste, touch and mental reasoning and thoughts, craving is born. All suffering arises from the titles which are due to ignorance. Ignorance, is the root of sufferings and is the cause of jivaishna.’

(3.) Inhibition of suffering- Suffering inhibition, that is, the destruction of sufferings, is possible. Just as there are sufferings in the world and there are causes of sufferings, so, the destruction of sufferings is also possible. In the Buddha’s view, the root cause of cravings can lead to relief from suffering. He said:‘Only those who understand and fear whatever seems dear in the world, whatever is enjoyable in the world, as suffering, will be able to give up craving. Opposition to form, pain, sense, ritual and science is the inhibition of suffering.’

(4.) Dukh Nirodhagamini Pratipad (Path of Suffering Restraint): There are also measures of the destruction of suffering, the Pratipada, the inhibitor of suffering. According to the Buddha, by following the ‘Ashtangapath’ or the ‘Aryan Ashtanga Path’, one can overcome suffering. It has eight organs. This path is called ‘Dukkha Nirodhagamini Pratipad’ and ‘The Path of Suffering Inhibition’ also called.

The Aryan Ashtanga Path

It is also called the Ashtanga Path. The Ashtanga Path ‘The Ethics of Buddhism’ is. This is the middle path. It forbids both self-attachment and self-torment. Thus Mahatma Buddha took the middle path both spiritually and morally. There are two limits which should never be followed:(1.) The lowest path of gratification of the pleasures and desires of sense objects. (2.) The habit of hurting another soul. Both of these are abandonable and painful.

According to the Buddha, ‘the eightfold path opens one’s eyes and bestows wisdom, which leads to peace, insight, higher wisdom and nirvana.’ The eight limbs of the Ashtanga Path are as follows:

(1.) Sammaditthi (right vision): Ignorance leads to a false view of the world and the soul. Distinguishing between truth and falsehood, sin and virtue, virtue and evil is the right perfect vision. This is the true knowledge of the four noble truths. This knowledge must be accompanied by faith and feeling. Samyak Drishti is the ‘Sat’ meditation on the four noble truths that leads to Nirvana.

(2.) Samma Sankappa (Equal Resolution): Samyak sankalpa means attachment to sense pleasures and the determination to eradicate bad feelings towards others and thoughts that harm them. The firm determination of self-welfare free from desire and violence is the right resolution. The right vision must be transformed into the right resolution.

(3.) Samma Vacha (Samyak Vani): Our words should be controlled by right resolve. Truthful, humble and soft speech and restraint on speech is the right speech. Everyone should avoid adhamma (evil) and call only dhamma (good). Hostility can be overcome not with harsh words but with good feelings. A wholesome word that soothes the mind is better than thousands of meaningless words.

(4.) Samma kammanta (samyak karmanta): Keeping purity in all actions. Avoiding violence, betrayal and misconduct and doing good deeds is the right end of action. Avoidance of evil deeds such as murder, theft, lust, lying, overeating, social entertainment, wearing cosmetics, jewellery, sleeping on comfortable beds and using gold and silver is the right end of karma.

(5.) Samma Ajiv (Samyak Ajiv): Making a living in a just way. The perfect life is to renounce the paths forbidden by life. Weapons, animals, meat, wine and poison should not be traded. One should not earn a living by pressure, deceit, bribery, tyranny, forgery, robbery, plunder, ingratitude, etc.

(6.) Samma vayam (proper exercise): This is also called proper effort. This means continuously striving for good deeds. This includes self-control, restraint of the senses, awakening good thoughts and making a ‘sat’ effort to keep the mind fixed on the welfare of all beings.

(7.) Sammasati (correct memory): Proper memory is necessary for proper samadhi. It includes the impurities of the body, sensation, pleasure, pain and the nature of neutral instinct, the nature of greed, hatred and delusional mind, religion, the five shoulders, the senses, the objects of the senses, the means of enlightenment and the remembrance of the four noble truths. Samyak Smriti means remembering the body, mind, pain or mental state in their true form.

By forgetting their true nature, false thoughts take up residence in the mind and actions begin to take place according to them, attachment increases and suffering has to be endured. Samyak Smriti destroys attachment and gets rid of sufferings and makes one worthy of entering Samyak Samadhi.

(8.) Samma Samadhi (Samyak Samadhi): Samyak Samadhi is to maintain the concentration of the mind by being devoid of passion and hatred. There are four stages of Samyak Samadhi before reaching Nirvana-

(i.) In the first stage the four noble truths are considered with a calm mind. Detachment and pure thought provide unprecedented bliss.

(ii.) In the second stage, efforts such as meditation are suppressed, reasoning becomes unnecessary, doubts are removed and fidelity to noble truths increases. In this state there is an experience of bliss and peace.

(iii.) The third stage is neutrality. An attempt is made to remove the mind from joy and peace and bring about a sense of neglect. This keeps the mind in a state of equilibrium but in samadhi there is indifference to bliss.

(iv.) The fourth state is that of complete peace in which pleasure and pain are destroyed. The equilibrium of the mind, the enjoyment of bodily pleasure and meditation, etc., are not meditated on, that is, the mind-instincts are inhibited. It is a state of complete peace, complete detachment and complete restraint. In this, sufferings are completely restrained and the arhant position or nirvana is attained. This is the state of perfect wisdom.

Madhyama Pratipada

Mahatma Buddha taught the eightfold path to get rid of suffering. It was based on purely ethical principles. It did not justify rigorous austerities involving physical suffering and affliction, nor excessive worldly pleasures. In fact, he was a path between the two extremes. Therefore it is also called Madhyama-Pratipada. By following it, man can move towards the path of Nirvana.

Virtue, Samadhi and Prajna

Following the eightfold path brings about the rise of virtue, samadhi and wisdom within a person, which are the three principal parts of the eightfold path of the Buddha. From unbroken samadhi arises ‘wisdom’. ‘Wisdom’ is matter knowledge. The place of wisdom is much higher than the intellectual place. Wisdom destroys Kamasava, Bhavasava and Avidyasava and produces true knowledge without which virtue is impossible and without virtue the perfection of knowledge is impossible.

Ten virtues

Mahatma Buddha placed great emphasis on morality. He asked his followers to remain pure in mind, word and deed. For this, he asked to follow the ten virtues. We can also call these the rules of virtue. The ten virtues are as follows-

(1.) To observe the vow of non-violence,

(2.) Always speak the truth,

(3.) Asteya means not to steal,

(4.) Aparigraha, that is, not to collect things,

(5.) Brahmacharya, that is, abstaining from pleasures and luxuries,

(6.) Abandonment of dance,

(7.) Abstinence from aromatics,

(8.) Untimely renunciation of food,

(9.) Renunciation of the soft bed,

(10.) The renunciation of Kamini and Kanchan.

The first five of the ten rules of virtue are similar to the five anuvratas of Mahavira Swami. According to the Buddha, it is necessary for householders, saints and devotees to follow these five rules. By following these, one can move towards the right path even while remaining worldly. That is, the Buddha also assured householders of a bright future, but for a person who leaves the delusions of the world and lives a monk's life, it is necessary to observe all the ten rules of morality. Thus, stricter rules were laid down for monks than for householders in observing the rules of morality.