Buddhism

History of the Teachings

Buddha's Awakening

Buddha lived over 2500 years ago. He taught throughout northern India for 45 years after his enlightenment at the age of 35. The breadth and depth of Buddhist practices are a result of his long career teaching people with a wide range of capabilities. His voluminous teachings were written down and they form the foundation of the methods taught to this day.

The historical Buddha Shakyamuni was born as Prince Siddhartha in the 6th Century BC. As a wealthy prince he was isolated from the hardships of life. When he was a young man he decided to venture beyond the security of his wealthy surroundings. There he was confronted with the suffering of the sick, the aged, and the dying.

He was deeply moved by the depth of suffering he encountered. He asked himself whether he too could be subject to the same suffering. He concluded he could, and he realized that all beings seek happiness yet experience suffering. He was so moved by the implications of this realization that he decided to search for a way to escape suffering. Buddha left his life of luxury in order to follow a path of spiritual awakening.

After years of extreme asceticism in the forests of India, Buddha realized that he could not achieve his goal through physical deprivation. In a moment of clarity he saw that all our suffering originates from the mind. More to the point, the way in which the mind perceives its circumstances defines the totality of our experience. Buddha's meditation turned wholly to understanding the nature of mind. His efforts led to the ultimate breakthrough: release from suffering, as we experience it, through an awakening to the true nature of reality.

Buddha taught how to seek happiness and avoid suffering. He did this by directing aspirants to explore the characteristics of mind in order to understand the true nature of reality: "the way things are" (dharma).

Buddha's teaching of the 'way things are' was built on the foundation of key certainties and philosophical concepts: They include, dependent arising (or co-dependent arising), karma, impermanence, selflessness, and emptiness. (See the section, 'The Teachings', for a discussion of these ideas.)

Compassion is also underlined as both an attitude and a practice that supports progress toward greater awareness. These concepts are the points of departure for all teaching traditions.

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The Development of the Teaching Traditions after Buddha

People learn in different ways, and Buddha taught accordingly. He focused his teachings on the ability of each individual and their personal motivation. Those who wanted to avoid suffering for themselves concentrated on cause and effect (dependent arising and karma); those who were inspired to benefit others as well as themselves were additionally given teachings on compassion and wisdom; and those who had a strong trust in the ability of themselves and others to reach enlightenment were given esoteric teachings on the direct view of mind - emptiness.

Each aspect of Buddha's diverse teachings emphasized a certain learning style, motivation or capability. It was therefore natural that after he passed away Buddha's students would broadly categorize them according to subject or audience. There were three main categories ('yana' means vehicle):

Shravakayana (the vehicle for the hearers)

Pratyekabuddhayana (the vehicle for the solitary realizers)

Bodhisattvayana (the vehicle for the Bodhisattvas). The Bodhisattvayana is also known as Mahayana. Within Mahayana, there are two types of teachings: Sutrayana (teachings from the Sutras) and Tantrayana (known as tantric, esoteric or secret teachings).

Over time these systems or yanas have been absorbed into the three main teaching traditions that we know today:

• Theravada emphasizes the Shravakayana (vehicle for hearers) teachings which concentrate on the teachings to those who want to avoid suffering for themselves. It is practiced in some Southeast Asian countries such as Sri Lanka and Myanmar and Thailand.
• Mahayana is for those who wish to benefit others in addition to themselves. It draws primarily from the Sutrayana teachings. It has found its fertile ground in many countries including China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Commonly known forms of this tradition include the "Amithaba Pure Land" school and Zen.
• Vajrayana is for those who have great trust in the ability of themselves and others to reach enlightenment quickly. It emphasizes the Tantrayana (tantric) teachings of the Bodhisattvayana while also encompassing the diverse traditions of Theravada, and Sutric Mahayana. This tradition has mostly been preserved in Tibet and Nepal, although one can find tantric teachings in some Japanese traditions today.