AMIDA TRUST PURELAND BUDDHISM INTRODUCTORY COURSE LESSON 1

AMIDA TRUST

PURELAND BUDDHISM
INTRODUCTORY COURSE

LESSON ONE

1. The Origin of Buddhism

Buddhism is the tradition of spiritual teaching and practice that has come down to us from the time of the Buddha. The Buddha was a spiritual teacher who lived in India about 2500 years ago; in other words, about 500 years before Jesus. The Buddha was a man called Siddhartha Gotama. He was a sage. He did not claim to be a prophet nor to be divine. He was the founder of our tradition, but he also looked back to a lineage of similarly enlightened teachers stretching into remotest antiquity. We do not know anything about these earlier teachers historically. The Buddhist texts do, however, tell us quite a lot about Siddhartha Gotama and his teachings and we will be learning from them as we go on.

2. The Mind

Buddhism is a teaching that places great emphasis upon the mind. Our state of mind is tremendously important. One of the best known and most loved of Buddhist texts is called the Dharmapada. We have already learnt that Dharma means Buddhist teaching. Pada means steps. The Dharmapada begins with the following words:

Mind is the forerunner of states. Mind is chief. Mind made are they.
If a man speaks or acts with a good mind
Happiness follows
Even as the wheel follows the hoof.

Mind is the forerunner of states. Mind is chief. Mind made are they.
If a man speaks or acts with a bad mind
Misery follows
Like a shadow that never leaves.

These two verses show the importance Buddhism attaches to the mind. The passage about the wheel following the hoof refers to the image of an ox-cart. A good mind is likened to a strong ox that can pull a heavy cart and be useful. The ox is strong and overcomes obstacles. In order to be helpful and gentle, however, the ox has to be tamed and trained. Buddhism similarly contains many teachings that are about taming and training the mind.

The second verse tells us what happens when we act with a bad mind. The image of a shadow tells us how the effects of acting badly stay with us and seem to hang on, accompanying us on life's journey. It is difficult, if not impossible to throw them off. We can, however, mitigate their effect by acting with a better mind in the future.

3 Training the Mind

We get our first taste of what taming the mind means in verses three and four. These say:

“He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me,”
In those who harbour such thoughts, hatred is not appeased.

“He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me,”
In those who do not harbour such thoughts, hatred is appeased.

These two verses tell us that it is attachment to negative thinking that keeps feuds going. They tell us that it is possible to train the mind so that such thoughts, even though they may still occurs sometimes, do not hang on nor come to dominate our mentality. They imply that we can notice what is happening in our mind; that is, we can have awareness. They suggest that a process is possible through which such thoughts become rare and the mind attains peace.

4 Love

The fifth verse of the Dharmapada is very famous. It says simply:

Hatreds never cease through hatred;
Through love alone they cease;
A Dharma eternal is this.

Here the word Dharma can be read simply as meaning truth. This verse tells us that when we respond to hatred with hatred, the situation does not get better. There will always be hatreds in the world, but the follower of Buddha's teaching learns to respond to them in a new way. Through training the mind, we can learn at least to avoid responding in kind and at best we can learn to love even the person who hates us. The Buddha does not claim to have invented this teaching himself. He is just drawing our attention to an eternal truth. Much of Buddhism is of this nature. The truths it teaches are very simple and, in a sense, obvious, but the task of a great teacher is to point them out.

We can also understand from these three verses that Buddhism teaches about continuity and change. It teaches how one thing leads to another. It shows how it sometimes requires a special effort or a change of behaviour to bring about improvement in ourselves or in others. Buddhism is not just about going with the flow. It involves having the faith to stand against the current when necessary.

SELF TEST QUESTIONS:

1. What does the word Dharma mean?
2. What is a sangha?
3. What was the Buddha's name?
4. When did the Buddha live?
5. The Buddha was an Indian god: true or false?
6. In Buddhism one's state of mind is not important: true or false?
7. The Dharmapada is a Buddhist text: true or false?
8. Do you understand why the mind is likened to an ox?
9. The idea of awareness defeating attachment has been introduced. Do you remember the context?
10. Buddhism will help us to stop brooding on other people's faults: true or false?
11. Do you understand how love is an eternal truth?
12. Buddhism is about always going with the flow: true or false?

IN THIS LESSON

i) We have encountered a Buddhist scripture called the Dharmapada and read five verses
ii) We have learnt that the mind is at the centre of much Buddhist teaching
iii) We have started to learn about taming the mind and about the importance of love.

Well done. Now send your answers to Lisa. She will respond and also tell you where to find Lesson Two. Namo Amida Bu.