Buddha & Religion: Islam

Thai Buddhists and Muslims living in peace

 Islam is an important global force in today’s world. Of the estimated six billion people on this planet, approximately one and a half billion are Muslims. The far mass of these people are peace-loving as are most of us, and despite the world media’s love of portraying the small minority of violent Muslims as the norm. These so-called Islamists are aggressive to non-Muslims and their fellow Muslims alike, and despite some claims – by their enemies as well as by themselves – that they constitute true Islam, the truth is that they represent Islam at large no more than gun-wielding communists represent the majority of the world’s atheists. Therefore, in this article Islamists will not be the focus, but rather the centuries-old and worldwide mainstream forms of Islam that will interest us here.

Islam is a monotheistic faith that began in Arabia in the seventh century and quickly spread across North Africa and the Middle East. Today, it is found across Asia and has sizeable populations in both North America and Europe. It is centered on the teachings in its holy book he Koran (or Quran) which is believed to contain the actual words of Allah (God), as revealed to the religion’s founder, the Prophet Muhammad. As it is so important to Islam, it would be a good place to start in a comparison of the Buddha and Islam. Resembling some fundamentalist Christians’ view of the Bible, most Muslims consider the Koran to be the perfect word of God, and therefore everything in it is true and to be followed to the letter. This dependence upon the word as an infallible source of inspiration is something that stands in contrast to the insight of the Buddha, which reveals the truth of this moment as it is, prior to language. Scripture, and other Buddhist teachings, exist to assist on our awakening, not to demand our unflinching belief.

In the Koran, it is made clear that God is one, that is to say He is beyond association with any image or form, including Jesus. (Jesus is considered a prophet in the Koran, but neither the Son of God nor God Himself.) Therefore, Islam is a monotheistic religion that teaches the only unforgivable sin that we can commit is to identify anything with Allah, which means Christians that belief Christ to be God are in deep trouble! From the Buddha’s perspective, this belief in a single divine being that is all-powerful creator of the universe is simply a form of wrong view that takes us away from the truth of this moment and into the realms of fantasy. Traditionally, moreover, gods are recognized in Buddhism but are neither eternal nor omnipotent, so the Koran’s description of God is in direct contradiction to the understanding of the way things are according to the Buddha.

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, the Master of the Day of Judgment. It is You we serve and to You we pray for support. Guide us on the right path, the path of those that You have blessed, not that of those with whom You are angry, nor of those who go astray.” 
(Koran, Sura 1.1-7)

Allah is not only creator but destroyer, not only the Compassionate bit also the Judge, and therefore there is as much fear of God as there is love for Him within Islam. Muslims believe that it is through God’s help that they can overcome life’s obstacles, and that if He chooses so, all their efforts will be in vain. It is up to every Muslim to follow the path of Islam, paying daily homage to Allah and living a righteous life, the reward for which will be eternity in paradise after one dies. This Muslim path is similar in some ways to the Buddhist Path, in that it includes a strong moral foundation to it, encouraging honesty and respectful behavior to others amongst other qualities. The emphasis on belief in Allah within Islam makes it very different to the Buddhist ideal of enlightenment, in which belief is irrelevant with the arising of the wisdom of the Buddha.

Part of the Muslim path to salvation is to perform the rituals of Islam and study the Koran. Like Buddhism, the Koran teaches that we are each responsible for our actions and thoughts, and that it is up to us to worship Allah or not. In this, there is a parallel in the Buddha’s teaching that we are all responsible for our own karma. The big difference is that like other theistic religions, Islam states that it is the Person of God that judges our actions as good or evil, whereas the Buddha taught that karma and its results are a natural process independent of any god or gods.

The ummah, or Islamic community is a crucial element in Islam, and in this it has similarities to the Sangha in Buddhism. Muslims are renowned for looking out for each other, and this communal spirit has its roots in the Koran, which teaches that the purpose of the Muslim community is to create a just and holy society. In the Koran, there are rules pertaining to marriage, inheritance and various other aspects of law which form the basis for Islamic law (sharia). The Buddha also taught that Buddhists should behave with wisdom and compassion towards each other. Here, there are parallels with Islam’s attitude to Muslim society, but an important difference is that Buddhists are encouraged to treat all beings with kindness, not just other Buddhists or even only humans.

After the Koran, the next most important source of Islamic teachings come from the Prophet Muhammad, who’s life and teachings (hadith) are also used by Muslims to guide them through life. He is seen as the perfect human, a devout God-fearing man who lived with complete devotion to the will of Allah. He was brave and led his followers in battle against their enemies, spreading Islam across Arabia, both in battle and in peace. Although discouraged from worshipping Muhammad, he is nevertheless as a role model for all Muslims, just as the Buddha is seen as a role model for all Buddhists.

“The most excellent jihad is that for the conquest of self.”

This has strong parallels with the following verse from the Buddhist Dhammapada:

“Though one may conquer a million men in battle,

Yet he is noblest victor who conquers himself.”

In Islam, it is the utter surrender of self to Allah that is the ideal that every Muslim should aim for, and it is the act of worship that he or she will achieve such abandonment. But worship is seen as merely rituals in a mosque, for it is in everyday acts that Muslims can also submit to Allah’s will, by obeying Islamic law and being generous to their fellow believers. There are similarities here with the Buddha’s teachings, in that Buddhists are encouraged to be selfless, putting the interests of others before themselves. Surrender for the Buddhist, however, is neither to God nor the Buddha, but to the way things are (the Dharma), which centre on the realization that there is in truth no substantial separate self in the first place. There is a movement within Islam called Sufism which has produced exclamations that seem to go beyond the usual Islamic ideas of surrender, however:

“O Lord,

If I worship You

From fear of Hell,

Then burn me in Hell.

O Lord,

If I worship you

From hope of Paradise,

Bar me from its gates.

But if I worship You for Yourself alone

Then grace me forever the splendour of Your Face.”

(Rabiah, 8th Century Sufi)

This Face of Allah may be seen as the very Original Face of Buddha, as described in Zen Buddhism, and then we are in the realm beyond words and concepts (and beliefs) where the Buddha and Islam may truly meet, if not merge. This ‘Face’ could well be described as No-Face, or the space in which all things appear. It is not your face nor my face, but the Face of all, and certainly not the particular features of any Tom, Dick or Harriet. Another equivalence in the above verse by the Sufi mystic Rabiah is that the idea that we do something not out of hope for reward, but that we do it for its own value, whether that be worshipping Allah or chanting praise of the Buddha.

What we see when we compare the Buddha with Islam are many differences but also many similarities. If we focus solely on those things that are unalike, then they may seem to be worlds apart and grounds for dialogue and coexistence may appear fragile to say the least. But, if we also bring to light the aspects of Islam that compliment the Buddha and his teachings, then we have reason to believe that Muslims and Buddhists can live harmoniously together in this world, as they have done in the past across Asia. Of course, there have been times of strife, as when Islam first conquered India, or recently in Southern Thailand where an atmosphere of mistrust has descended into brutal conflict. But, if we focus on the teachings of Muhammad and Sufi mystics such as Rabiah, then we nay find the way to allow the Buddha and Islam to coexist in peace, something that both have been famous for promoting.

A Sealed Bag of Skin

The sealed bag of skin & its contents...yummy!

“This, which is my body, from the soles of the feet up, and down from the crown of the head, is a sealed bag of skin filled with unattractive things. In this body are: hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, membranes, spleen, lungs, bowels, entrails, undigested food, excrement, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, spittle, mucus, oil of the joints, urine, and brain. This, then, which is my body, from the soles of the feet up, and down form the crown of my head, is a sealed bag of skin filled with unattractive things.”  
(Reflection on the Thirty-Two Parts, Amaravati Chanting Book)

The above quote may seem more like something from a medical student’s textbook rather than from a Buddhist chanting book, but it is in fact taken from the latter. Based on an ancient teaching found in the Tipitaka (‘Pali Canon’), the oldest extant Buddhist scriptures, the above reflection is still chanted across the Buddhist world, and is especially emphasized in the Thai forest tradition and its derivatives in the West. In this context, it is used as a meditative reflection as well as a chant. From this perspective, it is certainly worth our attention, as the benefits are manifold, something not atypical of the various contemplative techniques developed throughout the long history of Buddhism.

So, in the introduction and conclusion of the chant, the body is colourfully described as “a sealed bag of skin” which is “filled with unattractive things”. These two descriptions of the body treat it much as a doctor would, in that it is being viewed with an objectivity that sees it as an impersonal thing rather than as a person. This is a central theme in the Buddha’s teaching on anatta (‘not-self’), which states that the body does not constitute a self, which is also true of the mind. With the wise dictum that we should take one step at a time, we are focusing purely on the body in this brief reflection. The medical theme holds true in another sense, also, which is that the doctor acts for the benefit of the patient; the reflection on the thirty-two parts also has our wellbeing at heart. Rather than healing the body, this reflection has our enlightenment as its prime aim; cultivating a dispassionate and factual attitude to the body can assist in this.

A commonly-employed meditation in Thailand (and in many other places, too, no doubt) is related to the part of this reflection that goes “from the soles of the feet up, and down form the crown of my head”. This meditation encourages us to be aware of the outer aspects of the body rather than the inner parts of the human form (the latter of which is rather difficult for most of us to investigate in our daily lives, unless we happen to work in a morgue!). The best way to understand meditation is to do it, so you may wish to read through the following instructions prior to sitting in a quiet environment and slowly working your way through each step of the process:

Focus your attention upon the top of your head, noting the sensations there, the temperature, anything else that you can feel in that area. Very slowly move your awareness from the top of your head to your ears – very sensitive parts of the human anatomy – and again become familiar with the sensations that are arising there. After a few moments of this, shift attention to your face, moving awareness across the various features there such as the forehead, eyes, nose, cheeks, lips, and chin. Next, turn attention upon the neck, again taking some time to become acquainted with every sensation that is there. Do the same with the shoulders, arms, hands, back, chest, stomach, abdomen, legs, and feet, being alive to the way each part of the body is in this present moment.

This body-sweeping meditation brings two main insights: firstly, the body is not the self, but rather a composite of various parts; secondly, and somewhat conversely, an increased awareness of the condition and needs of the body. As each body part is brought into full consciousness, not only its current condition is revealed, but also its possible needs. An example of this is when we focus attention on the shoulders, we may notice an uptight tension in them that was not apparent previously; they may require a massage or perhaps general relaxation levels need looking at. As to the central revelation of not-self, seeing the body in its constituent parts will reveal its impersonal nature; “it” is not “me”. Rather, it is a collection of sense data arising in awareness.

A problem that may occur during body-sweeping meditation is that the mind cannot focus on any one area of the body for long. This is more often than not a concentration issue, so we need to get back to basics and cultivate our concentration mediation practice first before attempting to do body-sweeping. Anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing) is a good way to develop the concentration needed to do body-sweeping slowly and surely. Getting frustrated and trying to force the mind to concentrate on the body will only exasperate the situation, so if the mind is unable to do body-sweeping, cultivate its concentrative skills first. The benefits of a concentrated mind will be crucial not only to successful focused meditations, but also for life in general. Be patient. For a previous article on Anapanasati click here: The Great Escape/Anapanasati

Returning to the quoted text above, it is advised to reflect upon the inner parts as much as the surface of the body. Body-sweeping is perfect for the latter, but for the former a slightly different approach is required. We need to use our imagination to envisage the inside of the body and its contents – unless we indulge in a rather messy dissection! Body-sweeping mediation can be adapted for this purpose, however, an example being the heart. We can focus attention on the beating of the heart as we reflect on that particular organ, becoming aware of the rhythm of the heart and its speed. It is worth noting here that monks and nuns have long used this meditation to reduce sexual feelings, and they therefore often advice laypeople against practicing this kind of meditation. For if in a sexual relationship, it is possible that one may lose interest in sex altogether, frustrating one’s partner!

Reflecting on this “sealed bag of skin” can be a liberating experience. When we see that the body does not constitute the self, we have removed a major barrier to enlightenment. Furthermore, the Buddha taught the Middle Way between the extremes of self-indulgence and self-punishment, and the wisdom that can arise from knowing and understanding the body can result in neither pampering nor ignoring it. Letting go of identifying with the body means that when someone says either, “You look great!” or “You look awful!” we will not react out of ego. Despite this dispassion towards the body, wise understanding of it will not result in it being neglected, for being fully aware of the body and its needs results in the appropriate care for it, giving it rest when it is tired and nutriment when it is hungry. After all, compassion, like charity, begins at home!

Buddha Search

 

 Ah, there he is...or is he?

Visiting a Buddhist temple here in Thailand recently, I wished to pay respects to the main Buddha image. Asking the temple attendants where it was proved to be quite illuminating, as they didn’t know. At first, I thought that they couldn’t penetrate my far from perfect Thai language skills, for when a Thai colleague repeated my request they referred me to a statue that was hidden behind an immense curtain. Gazing up at the enormous image, however, I did not see the Buddha, but the replication of a famous monk that the temple complex was dedicated to; apparently, there was some confusion on the part of the temple staff as to what constituted a Buddha statue! I went back to the attendants and told them that this was not an image of the Buddha. They argued that it was until I pointed out that it was the statue of a monk and not the Buddha. The penny dropped. One of the attendants pointed to a smaller building a short distance away and said that the Buddha image was to be found there. After a brief trek across very pleasant surroundings – the temple complex seemed to be a kind of Buddhist theme park with lots of camera-wielding tourists – we found the Buddha statue, wrapped in what looked like a gigantic polythene bag. Either it was a newly-delivered statue or some scoundrel was attempting to asphyxiate the Lord Buddha! I bowed to the Buddha and then walked back to the main area where the temple attendants were selling various trinkets and other ‘Buddhist’ memorabilia to visitors.

This event set off a train of thought; why did the temple appear to view the Buddha with so little importance compared to this monk, who was said to have had magical powers? Usually, in countries like Thailand where the more conservative Theravada Buddhism is followed, the Buddha is always the central effigy found in a temple, not hidden away in a side building. Now, there are all kinds of possible explanations involving superstition, devotion, specialization and commercialism to name but a few, any number of which may well be contributory factors. But, more importantly, this inquiry led on to another, more fundamental one: What is it to search – and find – the Buddha? Sure, statues can be useful and aesthetic objects that enhance our lives, but no one suggests that they truly are the Buddha. The real Buddha is that enlightened part of us that is to be found right where we are now, and has been so wonderfully personified not only in the person of the historical Shakyamuni Buddha, but also in other enlightened ones such as Amitabha Buddha. Images, concepts and emotions can be used to bring us closer to the Buddhas, but is it not the Buddha within that is the true Buddha that will transform our suffering lives into happy ones?

This living Buddha is harder to find than those dead images, however, and all of the 84, 000 ways to awakening are geared towards enabling us to transcend ‘us’ and find the Buddha. Even devotion to a monk as opposed to the Buddha can assist in enlightenment – as long as it does not descend into a mere business or sect. For, if a monk – or anyone else for that matter – is awakened then they exist as an inspiration to our own search for the Buddha. For those of us that prefer to look for ourselves, however, statues, monks, gurus, and esoteric practices may seem somewhat over elaborate. And, for such people, there are more direct methods which can be employed to discover the Buddha within. One such method is the direct enquiry employed and promoted by the late British philosopher Douglas Harding. Although not Buddhist himself, Douglas saw the emptiness that lies not only at the heart of Buddhism, but also forms the ultimate objective of many great Christian, Muslim and Hindu mystics’ lives. Douglas was very keen to draw parallels between such luminaries and their Buddhist counterparts, especially from Zen Buddhism. Huineng (638-713), Bankei (1622-1693) and D.T. Suzuki (1890-1966) were particular favourites of Douglas’ (and mine). Let’s employ a few of Douglas’ ‘experiments’ and see what we come up with. It might just be enlightening!

Looking at the objects in front of you, see their ‘thing-ness’, that is to say, their colours, shapes, sizes, and general solidity. Now, turn your attention around 180 degrees to that which is doing the looking. What colours, shapes and sizes do you see here? Furthermore, is what you see at this end of your pointing finger solid or transparent? Is it a separate thing that keeps out all other things ‘out there’, or is it a ‘no-thing’ that is capacity for all the things you see to occur in?

Looking here and now, I can’t see a ‘me’ at my centre, but what is found is extremely fascinating – an alert void that contains, or is one, with all that can be seen. It is invisible, without any limited and limiting forms. All things can be seen within it, and it is neither confined nor defined by those things. It is that very emptiness that is the absence of me, and yet it contains those elements usually taken to equal ‘me’ along with all other things. It rejects not one thing, being completely open to them all. This openness is the impartial acceptance of everyone and everyone as they are right now, which the attitude of the Buddha. This is no coincidence, because the peaceful nonjudgmental heart that lies within us all is the Buddha. If we are searching for the Buddha, here ‘he’ is!

Listen to the sounds in your vicinity, hear their ‘thing-ness’, that is to say, their volume, rhythm, tone, and general audibility. Now, turn your attention to that which is doing the listening. What volume, rhythm, and tones do you hear here? Furthermore, is what you hear at the heart of all sounds audible or silent? Is it a separate thing that blocks out all other things ‘out there’, or is it a ‘no-thing’ that is capacity for all the things you hear to appear in?

If sounds are paid close attention to, they are just as efficacious as seeing in revealing the no-thing that is revealed through searching with an open mind. I cannot hear a ‘me’ here anymore than I can see one. Sounds arise, exist and die away in this ever-present silent void, which prefers no one sound over any other, simply being capacity for them to exist and be heard. Indeed, their being heard is their very existence. And, it is this equanimous silence that is the space in which they are heard. Pleasant or unpleasant, all sounds are given space to exist with this silent awareness. This is the impartial Buddha that hears the cries of the world, indeed the cries of the universe. All noise is accepted here, for there is no one to object to some sounds deemed nice and attach to others considered disagreeable. (Such thoughts and feelings of like and dislike still occur in the unenlightened mind, of course – until that mind dissolves into its inherently unbiased clarity.)

Watch the thoughts and emotions in your mind, notice their ‘thing-ness’, that is to say, their intensity, subject matter, morphing, and general mentality. Now, turn your attention to that which is doing the thinking and feeling. What intensity, subject matter and morphing do you notice here? Furthermore, is what you perceive at the heart of all thoughts and feelings mental or unimaginable? Is it a separate thing that contains all other things ‘in here’, or is it a ‘no-thing’ that is capacity for all the things you think and feel to exist in?

For some, it is much easier to accept that the self is not the body. They may well believe that it is thoughts and emotions that make up the human being, perhaps even containing some kind of seat of consciousness within the mind that many consider to be their eternal ‘soul’ or essence. This quite natural identification with being ‘me’ is the way that the human mind works for most of us, most of the time – until something happens that jolts the mind out of its usual assumptions of who and what the self is. Therefore, when the mind and its contents are experienced as arising in the void rather than from some central control centre, eternal or not, the association of self with mind is loosened if not broken altogether. (In traditional Buddhism, there are degrees of awakening such as the partially-enlightened ‘stream-enterer’ who has let go of the idea of being a self and the fully-enlightened ‘Arhat/Bodhisattva/Buddha’ who has let go of the feeling of being a self as well.)

Perhaps the reason that the Buddha is so hard to see is that we don’t really want to look. We fear what we will find: A great big nothing. But, the truth is that a great big no-thing lies at our heart, and the hyphen in these two words makes all the difference. The Buddha did not teach nihilism, the idea that there is literally nothing beyond these atoms that constitute our physical being. But, neither did he teach eternalism, the idea that there is a separate eternal ‘soul’ that survives death. He taught the Middle Way between these two extremes which attaches to no dogmas regarding this crucial question and leaves it up to experience to reveal the truth. Examining our own being with an open mind can enable us to experience this no-thing that contains all things. This is not a depressing event –unless we react from the ego – for we actually discover the unborn and undying nature that is the Buddha. To attach labels to it is of course troublesome, and none those that have been employed here should be taken as literal. Rather, they are figurative pointers indicating what is found to be here when all our assumptions and preconceived ideas and beliefs are put to one side. The search for the Buddha needn’t be so troublesome after all.

For more on Douglas Harding and his 'experiments', please click here:  The Headless Way

Buddha & Religion: Christianity

Jesus and Buddha: spiritual friends?

One third of the world’s population is Christian, which makes it an important force to be understood, albeit somewhat superficially in the limited context of this article. The basic belief in Christianity is, of course, centered on the Person of Jesus Christ. As part of the Holy Trinity, He is considered God by Christians, along the Father and the rather ethereal Holy Spirit, or Ghost. As humans, we have veered from the will of God, and therefore are full of sins that propel us towards eternal damnation in Hell. Unless we turn to Jesus, that is, and to use a Buddhist term, take refuge in Him.

As God the Son, Jesus can forgive us our sins and raise us to a state of redemption that saves us from eternal punishment after death. Instead, those that He saves will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment  - just has He was three days after being crucified - and either elevated to Heaven to live with God forever as one of the Elect, or live for Eternity on a perfected New Earth that God will construct for the purpose.  Moreover, all this is made possible by the Passion of Christ on the cross, when he sacrificed His own (mortal) life for the sake of sinners, taking on their sin and purifying them in preparation for their salvation. As can be seen from this, the role of Jesus as Savior is central to the Christian religion, and therefore it is worth spending time on Jesus if we wish to understand Christianity a little better.

Jesus says, “I am the Truth, the Way, and the Life.” (John 14.6) By this, He emphasizes that it is only through Him that humans can be saved from their sins. By Truth, is meant the Truth of God, by Way is meant the way to God, and by Life is meant eternal existence in the afterlife. Reflecting on this from the Buddhist perspective, there are clear doctrinal differences between Christianity and Buddhism, such as the centrality of the Holy Trinity (God, that is) which goes against the Buddhist understanding of gods as either impermanent heavenly beings, or as psychological archetypes. Looking beyond literal and dogmatic interpretations of these basic Christian beliefs, can we find areas of convergence between the persons of the Buddha and Jesus Christ?

Jesus was born of a virgin, Mary, impregnated by the Holy Spirit, and the Buddha is said to have walked and talked immediately upon birth, both miraculous events preceded in dreams had by the mothers of both, predicting the extraordinary nature of their offspring. The life and teachings of Jesus are looked upon as a template for all Christians to take inspiration from. Similarly, the Buddha’s life and teachings are also used by Buddhists as objects of reflection and inspiration. Both men were peaceful in their dealings with others, and yet delivered uncompromising messages that challenged their listeners to go beyond their usual limitations and reach higher states of consciousness. In the case of the Buddha, this exalted state of mind was called enlightenment (bodhi) and indicated a penetration of the mysteries of existence, as well as the happiness of liberation from suffering. For those following Jesus, it is salvation that is the ultimate aim of this life, as indicated above. Salvation and enlightenment are worth spending a little more time on here, as they are so important to Christians and Buddhists respectively.

Jesus is savior whereas the Buddha is doctor. By doctor, we point to the Buddha’s role in pointing out the illness (suffering or dukkha), the cause (desire or tanha), the cure (nirodha or the end of desire and suffering), and the treatment (the Path or magga). This role of (enlightening) physician is arguably the main one of the historical Buddha, but there are other Buddhas with different attributes. The main one that comes to mind when reflecting on the role of savior is that of Amitabha Buddha. Followers of this Buddha are essentially devotees rather than students, as with the historical Buddha, and therefore have religious life based on faith and salvation rather than study and enlightenment. Not that the followers of Amitabha are said to not achieve enlightenment, but that this is usually realized after being reborn in Amitabha’s heaven, rather like many Christians who believe they will be resurrected after death into Heaven.

Returning to this idea of sin as being central to Christian theology, it is worthwhile considering this doctrine in relation to the Buddhist experience. In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, God creates the first two humans in the form one man and one woman, called Adam and Eve respectively. They lived in a kind of primeval paradise until their innocent enjoyment of life was ruined when they bit from an apple from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. This was the Original Sin that was the cause for all subsequent sinfulness and suffering. The nearest thing to sin that we find in Buddhism is avijja, or ignorance, which lies at the heart of the unenlightened state that most beings find themselves in. And, just as salvation is the answer to the problem of sin, so enlightenment is the answer to the problem of ignorance for Buddhists.

Morality plays an important part in the Buddhist life just as does in the Christian one, something that is often glossed over by some modern Buddhists who wish their own libertine tendencies unhindered by challenging teachings such as the Five Precepts (which are not to kill, not to steal, not to commit sexual misconduct, not to lie, and not to take intoxicants). Just as the Ten Commandments influence Christians to behave in certain virtuous ways, so too Buddhists are encouraged to live a good life as an integral part of the Path to enlightenment. Being evil and believing in Jesus Christ are contradictory in their very nature, for Christianity teaches that to really believe in the Son of God and then receive His grace via the Holy Spirit is to live a new life, exemplified in the words of Paul: “I am crucified with Christ; the life I now live is not my life, but the life which Christ lives through me.” As with Buddhists being saved by Amitabha, Christians saved by Jesus are not free to do whatever they want, despite some occasionally hedonistic and unorthodox interpretations to the contrary within both traditions.

There is a fundamental difference between this life in which “Christ lives through me” and the Buddhist experience of enlightenment, which is, in essence, the perspective of the Buddha. Whilst the devout Christian remains essentially separate to Christ, no matter how devoted she or he may be, the awakened Buddhist is in complete union with the Buddha, for the realization of the two is identical: emptiness lies at the heart of all, and to live from the direct experience of this inner void is to be the very embodiment of bodhi (enlightenment). For the Christian, God remains God and devotee remains devotee, for neither is commonly perceived to be empty at heart. (For some Christian mystics such as Meister Eckhart, this is not necessarily the case, but they form a tiny minority of Christendom both historically and in the modern world, and have often been considered heretics. See a glimpse of their view of God and its relationship to the Buddha’s perspective below.)

Paul never claimed to be Christ; instead, he wrote that he had surrendered to the will of God in the form of Christ. All that he subsequently did in the name of God was done under the influence of his Savior, but not as that divine Person. When I gaze back and see the emptiness that is my True Nature, I am witnessing the very same empty clarity that the Buddha did, and am therefore identified with the awakened one. This is because there isn’t more than one emptiness; my emptiness is yours, and yours is the Buddha’s. In Christianity, however, the essence of Christ, God that is, is conceived as a particular being different and therefore separate to the Christian’s individual essence (the ‘soul’). From this perspective, there can be no complete union between God and man (or woman, for that matter). This is a crucial difference between the Christian ideal of the devout Christian and the Buddhist ideal of the enlightened one.

Going back to the subject of Christian mysticism and the Buddha, there are similarities to be found here, and such mystics as St. John of the Cross, Julian of Norwich and Meister Eckhart. Possibly with the notable exception of the latter, even such luminaries as these still retain the taste of dualism, with a subtle divide between God and devotee. Meister Eckhart is an interesting expression of Christian mysticism, however, when he says, “The eye by which I see God is the same eye by which God sees me.” For, while it may appear that separation remains with his reference to God and I, the two can be viewed as the Eckhartian equivalents of the Buddhist understanding of emptiness and form, but dressed in theistic language. And, as previously mentioned in the article Linji's True Eye, Eckhart describes the Godhead as ‘pure nothingness’ (ein bloss niht). Eckhart was forced by the Roman Catholic Church to recant some of his more unorthodox statements, revealing the gap between the viewpoint of the Buddha, based on enlightenment, and the mainstream Christian conception of God.

Christianity and the Buddha have much that divides them; the former’s dogmas involving the Trinity in contrast to the latter’s view of gods as impermanent beings; the Christian ultimate objective of eternal individual existence and the Buddhist goal of enlightenment; and, the ultimate separation of God and soul, as opposed with the Buddha’s vision of the interdependence and unity of existence. As for those aspects of Christianity that parallel the Buddha’s teachings, we can look at the centrality of the life and person of Jesus Christ and those of the Buddha; the importance of morality in both the Christian tradition and the precepts taught by the Buddha; and, finally, the emphasis put upon compassion and kindness by both Jesus and the Buddha. With the latter in mind, both Christians and Buddhists can endeavor to work together to make this world a better place to live. May all beings be happy!

Goddess of Mercy

She hears the cries of the world

From within each weeping heart

Tears dried by a wondrous vow

The silence ever alert within us

Blood-stained and heavy-laden

We seem too far to be caught

In her thousand motherly arms

Yet her reach covers the cosmos

In her boundless compassion

Appearing in countless guises

She is each and every reflection

Smiling back through our delusion

Revealing the true unborn nature

Of both herself and her children

Merged in the beautiful light

That is Guan Shi Yin Bodhisattva

Buddha & Religion: Introduction

 A map featuring the world's biggest religions (click to enlarge)

Human beings have always tried to make sense of the universe in which we live, just as we have developed moral systems to organize societies. Individuals have also had intuitions and other experiences that have required explanations. Above all, we have endeavored to avoid suffering and cultivate happiness. All these (and other) aspects of human existence have been part of something called religion. Religion, often ridiculed in some parts of the modern world, has dominated almost every aspect of every culture on this planet for thousands of years. In fact, even in modern ‘secular’ societies such as the U.S. and the U.K. religion still exerts a powerful influence on both millions of individuals as well as on governments. Furthermore, in countries that were or still are (at least technically) communist and atheist, such as Russia and China, religion has made an amazing resurgence in recent decades.

Religions change, of course. As the Buddha taught, all conditioned things change; they are processes forever in flux. This is equally applicable to religion, for, if we were to travel back to ancient times, the faiths of those times would seem quite alien to us, not only in the early, ‘prototype’ versions of what became Judaism and Hinduism amongst others, but also in those religions that not only altered over the coming centuries, but actually died out as newer religions such Christianity and Islam came onto the scene. The Greek and Roman gods are long gone, as are the ancient religions found across Europe, including the Norse, Celtic, Germanic, and Russian creeds. It is not only in the West that religions die out and are replaced with alternatives, as can be seen when studying the long dead Aztec, Arabian, and Pacific faiths.

As to the religions that exist today, these too are not static phenomena; they are constantly changing and adapting to the needs of their followers, often altered by reformists who wish to lead the followers of their faiths in particular directions. Martin Luther and the subsequent Protestant revolution in the history of Christianity is an example of this, as is the development of many Mahayana schools of Buddhism in India and the Far East. Nevertheless, despite – or more probably, because of – these continual changes in religion, it remains in its varied forms an extremely important aspect of most people’s lives in the early part of the Twenty-First Century. Here’s a current ‘Top Ten’ of religions and their number of adherents:

·        Christianity – 2 billion

·        Islam – 1.3 billion

·        Hinduism – 900 million

·        Chinese Indigenous Religion – 400 million

·        Buddhism – 360 million

·        Sikhism – 23 million

·        Judaism – 14 million

·        Mormonism – 12 million

·        Falun Gong – 10 million

·        Baha’i Faith – 7 million

There are some interesting facts to be read from this list, albeit with one important reservation: these are nominal figures that in some cases are little more than educated guesses, as the exact numbers that follow particular religions is difficult to calculate. Nevertheless, if we take the numbers above as somewhat accurate, there are some fascinating facts to be drawn from them. Firstly, these ten religions account for nearly five-sixths of the world’s population, with the top three amounting to over two-thirds of humanity. All this is incredible, considering the millions of atheists in the world and the thousands of religions that didn’t make the Top Ten, such as Cao Dai, Jainism, primal religions, Rastafarianism, Scientology, Shinto, Soka Gakkai, Tenrikyo, Transcendental Meditation, Voodoo, Wicca, and Zoroastrianism.

Secondly, it can be understood that monotheism – the belief in a single almighty god – is the central religious creed of most of the world’s populace, as with Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, and Baha’i followers. Polytheism, the belief in more than one god is a central characteristic of only one of the Ten – Hinduism. Buddhism also includes the traditional belief in the existence of deities, but it is arguably not essential to its teachings. Chinese Indigenous Religion is a fusion of Confucianism, Daoism, and ancestral worship, and also includes the belief in more than one deity. So, gods are a matter of faith for the majority of the world’s population; something that atheists, agnostics, and modern Buddhists would do well to bear in mind.

Whilst seven of the Top Ten can be classed as old religions thousands of years old in some cases, Mormonism, Falun Gong, and the Baha’i Faith are all new religions that have arisen in the last few centuries. On the subsidiary list above another six religions are recent developments. Also, within the long-established religions there are modern movements that are in a process of constant updating (and in some cases ‘backdating’). This new growth in religious reformation and movements belies the claim by some modernists that religion is an antiquated activity that is on the wane; far from it. As mentioned above, those that belittle or dismiss religious faith are on dangerous ground as the numbers are clearly not on their side. Watch out Richard Dawkins and friends!

Within the confines of this blog (and the confines of my life!), this series will focus on the top five religions on the list featured earlier. Despite only numbering five – unless we subdivide the various Chinese faiths – these religions each number in the hundreds of thousands or even the billions, and together account for roughly five-sixths of the world’s population. Again, atheists should not be ignorant to this fact, as it is often said that religion is a dying force in the modern, technologically advanced world. Even if these figures include many nominal members of religious traditions, the remaining active adherents of these five enormous movements still add up to well over half of all humanity. Either way, Richard Dawkins and his faithless friends such as Sam Harris are far from witnessing the end of faith that they apparently so desperately desire.  Perhaps the wisdom of working with these religions rather than against them will surface during this series of articles, and maybe a few atheists and modernist Buddhists will be inspired to interact with religionists in more positive ways in the future. We can but hope!

A little note on Buddhism as a religion is required here. Many modern Buddhists do not consider Buddhism to be a religion, as for them it does not demand the belief in a god or gods (despite the traditional Buddhist belief in deities mentioned earlier). It can be argued that Buddhism inherited the belief in gods, demons, heavens and hells from Hinduism, and that the Buddha and his early disciples used these beliefs to illustrate Buddhist teachings like those on suffering, impermanence, selflessness, and enlightenment. For others, including the vast majority of the world’s Buddhists that live in Asia, Buddhism is a religion. A previous Buddha Space post features this debate, and can be read here: Is Buddhism a Relgion? Irrespective of whether we consider Buddhism a religion or not, as the title of this series of articles suggests, it is not the purpose here to compare and contrast Buddhism with other religions. Instead, it is from the viewpoint of the Buddha that religions, including religious forms of Buddhism, are to be examined.

So, whether we take Buddhism to be a religion or not, it is still useful to contemplate some of the world’s major religions from the viewpoint of the Buddha, for perhaps such an undertaking will not only highlight the differences between Buddha and religious faith, but also bring to our attention areas where mutual interests can be explored. This exploration will be conducted in a contemplative manner rather than a doctrinal one. There are two advantages to taking this approach; Buddhism has many different doctrines, due to there being many sects, and obviously if the viewpoint of one sect is taken up, all the other sects are not involved; also, the heart of Buddhist practice is a contemplative one, based on mindfulness and meditation, and therefore to consider religion from a meditative position is to simultaneously cultivate wisdom. Taking up the standpoint of the Buddha, then, will enable us to explore not only religions such as Islam and Christianity from the enlightened perspective, but also allow for a nonsectarian examination of Buddhism itself. That’s the theory, anyhow!

Where to start, then? Well, looking back at the Top Ten list, it makes sense to start at the top, especially as most English-speaking Buddhists reading this blog will be more familiar with Christianity than the other five faiths to be featured. There are some fundamental differences between the Buddha’s worldview and that of the world’s most popular faith, such as the respective doctrines of salvation in Christianity and enlightenment in Buddhism. Perhaps surprisingly for some, there some striking similarities also, that we will explore, such as the role of morality in the lives of both Christians and Buddhists. In the next article in this series on Buddha & Religion, then, we will begin by taking a look at the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the major branches of the religion that grew out of his ministry: Christianity.

Awakened Consciousness

Ajahn Sumedho: exponent of awakened consciousness

Consciousness (vinnana in Pali) according to the early Buddhist teachings is usually associated with one or another of the six sense-doors (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, body or mind), and as such is conditioned as is all phenomena in this universe. Eye-consciousness, for example, is conditioned as are the eyes and eye-objects that condition it. And it is the same with the other five kinds of consciousness associated with the sense-doors. Furthermore, like all conditioned things, the six kinds of consciousness are created and will eventually cease to be. Therefore, they do not constitute a permanent self: ultimately we are neither these bodies nor these minds, whatever conditioned form consciousness takes.

All this appears to feed the belief that the Buddha taught a form of atheistic philosophy, and that aside from every conditioned aspect of human existence there is nothing. According to this line of thought, at heart we are literally nothing. However, just as the Buddha taught that eternalism (sassatavada) is a false belief, so too he taught that nihilism (ucchedavada) is not true. So, what is it that survives all this analysis (and survives death, for that matter)? In the early Buddhist scriptures known as the Pali Canon or Tipitaka there are two places that discuss consciousness in a different light, calling it anadassana-vinnana, which has been translated as ‘consciousness-without-signs,’ ‘consciousness-without-showing,’ ‘non-manifest-consciousness,’ and ‘awakened consciousness.’ (For those canonical nuts of you out there the relevant sections of the Canon are Digha Nikaya 11.85 and Majjhima Nikaya 49.25.) In these sutras the Buddha says:

‘In the awakened consciousness –
the invisible, the limitless, radiant.
There it is that earth, water, fire and wind,
And long and short, and fine and coarse,
Pure and impure no footing find.
‘There it is that both nama (mind) and rupa (body) fade out,
Leaving no trace behind.
When discriminative consciousness comes to its limit,
They are held in check therein.’

This awakened consciousness, as pointed out by the Buddha, is not conditioned as with the six kinds of consciousness described above, neither being part of the natural world (earth, water, fire, and wind), nor having size, being neither long nor short; it is without texture, being neither fine nor coarse; it is without moral quality either, being neither pure nor impure; neither is it psychological in nature (nama) nor physical (rupa). It is invisible, limitless, and radiant. To experience this awakened consciousness in meditation is not as difficult as some might think – thinking after all is a process of the mind, and awakened consciousness is beyond the reach of “discriminative consciousness.” One way we can explore experience in search of awakened consciousness is to try the following exercise:

Sitting in a relaxed but upright position – traditional meditation postures are perfect for this purpose, for obvious reasons – close your eyes to limit sensory interference, as the eventual objective here is to focus on awareness not its contents. To do this, pay attention to the contents of the mind, which will probably include sound-consciousness, touch-consciousness, and mind-consciousness at a minimum. Be alert to any sounds present for example, noting their loudness, duration, and other qualities, and then do this with any other forms of sense-consciousness you are aware of. Having done this for at least several minutes, next turn attention around to that which is awake to all of this. So, for example, examine the silence that contains sound-consciousness – does it have any discernible qualities? Look at the contents of the mind in the form of thoughts, memories, fantasies, emotions, and the like. Then, see the no-mind that mental phenomena occur in, taking care to recognize just how different it is to its contents. Is this silent, thoughtless, tasteless, odourless, sightless, and non-tactile awareness with or without conditioned qualities?

Here it would benefit us to recall the three attributes ascribed to awakened-consciousness in the aforementioned canonical extract: invisible, limitless, and radiant. When we compare these descriptions of awakened-consciousness with our experience in the above exercise, do we find that they fit? Here, it certainly seems that they do. This alert silence that lies behind all psycho-physical stimuli is certainly invisible for it has no features whatsoever – visual stuff appear in it, filling it with their forms and colours. As to being limitless, it is experienced without borders, and is therefore capable of containing the limited phenomena that occupy it. Finally, is it ‘radiant?’ Well, radiance is a quality of clarity, a sharpness of knowing, and again that which is alert in meditation does indeed shine with a wakefulness that fills the meditative mind. Reflecting on all of this, this naked knowing does indeed fit the bill as being the very awakened-consciousness that the Buddha talks of in the Pali Canon.

To really benefit from this meditative exercise most of us need to undertake it on a regular basis for at least half an hour a time. Those of you that are ripe to see the way-things-are (Dharma) mat well get the heart of this meditation much quicker, but however swiftly you experience awakened consciousness, it will be of much benefit to repeat the exercise as many times as you can. Discovering the underlying reality that precedes both mind and body, not to mention the normal association that we humans have with mundane conditioned consciousness, is a liberating experience. Being awake this way transcends the limitations of egoistic living, freeing us from the destructive emotions that usually dominate everyday consciousness. Waking up certainly has its benefits!

If all this seems too good to be true, and that the meditative credentials of the author of this article are questionable to the reader, a much better advocate of such meditative explorations of awakened-consciousness (anidassana-vinanna) is the widely-respected Ajahn Sumedho (1934-present). In his Dharma talks at Amaravati and other Buddhist Monasteries, Ajahn Sumedho has repeatedly referred to awakened-consciousness, promoting its investigation to his listeners, whether monks, nuns, or laity. He has said that awakened-consciousness is impersonal in nature, as opposed to our personalities that are full of biases, preferences, and other individualistic mental processes that affect our experience of the world.

According to Ajahn Sumedho, when attention is focused on impersonal awareness as opposed to our identification with being male or female, young or old, American or Chinese, etc. we begin to let go of those attachments to self-identity that cause suffering on a daily basis. This is because awakened-consciousness doesn’t suffer – it’s beyond suffering (dukkha). Associating with being specific people we suffer – it can’t be any other way. But as impersonal awakened-consciousness there’s nobody here to suffer. This may sound a bit like being some kind of robot that has no emotions and is therefore uninterested in the suffering of others. This isn’t how it works, however, for as awakened-consciousness we are not only open to the suffering of all beings but naturally feel compassion for them, as there is no ego here to separate ‘us’ from ‘them.’

Regarding the tendency amongst some Theravada Buddhists to take the Pali Canon as a set of dogmas to be blindly followed, Ajahn Sumedho has said that the Canon exists to help us explore our experience of life, rather than as yet another set of ideas to attach to. This is a crucial point that we Buddhists would do well to pay attention to, for both Buddhism’s teachings and practices are tools to assist in our awakening. This principle extends to the entirety of the Buddha’s teachings, including those that refer to the six sense-doors. By remaining open-minded in this way, we are alive to experiencing and accepting the results of meditative practices like the one above, rather than falling into dualistic beliefs such as nihilism and eternalism.

Ajahn Sumedho insists that anidassana-vinanna remains when the world ends – whether in deep meditation or when we physically die. He has described it as “this primal, non-discriminative consciousness.” This reflects the quotation from the Pali Canon above that states that awakened-consciousness endures even “when discriminative consciousness comes to its limit.” As to conditioned phenomena such as the six sense-doors of consciousness, the Buddha says that “they are held in check therein” when in meditation we become fully immersed in awakened-consciousness. This is something that most of us can possibly only achieve after many years (or lifetimes?!) of meditative practice, but in the meantime we can at least have a glimpse or two of unconditioned awareness by devoting some time to practices like the one described above.

The book Intuitive Awareness is available for free download here: Ajahn Sumedho Writings