Welcome to Bodhi Corner, a place for reading about, and reflecting on the basic concepts of Buddhism and the Dhamma (Pali: धम्म) or Dhárma (Sanskrit: धर्म).
If a man [sic] is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way. (Bertrand Russell as cited in Richard, 2009).
The Arising of Buddhism
For more than 2500 years, the religion we know today as Buddhism has been the primary inspiration behind many successful civilisations, the source of great cultural achievements and a lasting and meaningful guide to the very purpose of life for millions of people. (Buddhist Society of Western Australia, n.d.)
The term Buddhism refers to an extensive religious and philosophical practice originating in India, but covering, at some time or another, the greater part of Asia. Its appearance in India was preceded by some two thousand years of Indian philosophy and civilisation. Buddhism as such did not yet exist, and the ideas of Siddhattha Gotama (aka the Buddha) formed but one part of the collection of Indian thought from that period.
The Buddha – one who has awakened – was born in Lumbini, just inside the borders of Nepal most probably around 485 BCE. The son of a local Ruler, the Buddha had a privileged upbringing benefiting from a traditional education studying subjects such as religious doctrine, state affairs, logic and other arts and sciences. He married at the age of 16, and had a son sometime later. At the age of 29 he renounced the world and became a homeless wanderer seeking religious knowledge under some of the wisest religious teachers and philosophers of his time. Although he learnt all they had to offer, he found it was not enough. Subsequently, he set out on the path of self-mortification, taking that practice to the extreme, but still to no avail. Then, at age 35, he sat under the branches of, what is now referred to as, the Bodhi Tree by the banks of the river Niranjara, and developed his mind in deep meditation. As a result he gained supreme Enlightenment and became known as the Buddha.
For the next 45 years the Buddha travelled throughout the towns and villages of north-east India spreading his religious teachings – the Dhamma – literally, ‘the nature of all things’ or ‘the truth underlying existence’. The Buddha’s primary focus was not philosophical speculations about a ‘Creator God’ or the origin of the universe, or on a heaven, but rather, on the causes of suffering (dukkha) and the cessation of its many forms. At the age of 80 he succumbed to illness and passed away into the state of pure enlightenment without remainder (an-upādi-sesa-nibbāna) from which he would never more be reborn.
In many ways the Buddha’s teachings conformed to and developed from the existing tenets of Brahmanism – known today as Hinduism, and the various other religious sects from that time, such as the Upanishadic, Jain, and Shramanic movements. In particular, the Buddha’s teachings hold much in common with Jainism. In fact, many concepts are shared, though not necessarily interpreted in the same way, by all the movements – the law of cause and effect (kamma), cyclic existence (samsāra), liberation (vimokkha), as well as many of the guidelines on ethics (sīla) and concentration (samādhi).
(Buddhist Society of Western Australia, n.d.; Gethin, 1998, p. 1; Kang, ca.2012a; Kang, ca.2012e; Prebish and Keown, 2010, pp. 1 & 26-7; Tsering, 2009, p.1)