Buddhism by Numbers: 4 Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths (Cattari Ariya Saccani) are the central teachings of the Buddha, taught in his very first sermon and forming the heart of every Buddhist school that exists to this day. These truths are not for merely believing in or expounding, but for reflecting upon again and again, exploring how they apply to our lives, and how we may respond to them. The Four Noble Truths are:

1. The Noble Truth of Suffering (dukkha);
2. The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering (dukkha-samudaya);
3. The Noble Truth of the Ending of Suffering (dukkha-nirodha);
4. The Noble Truth of the Path leading to the Ending of Suffering (dukkha-nirodha-gamini-patipada).

In the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the first sermon of the Buddha, the Awakened One said:

“So long, monks, as my knowledge and vision of reality regarding these Four Noble Truths, in their three phases and twelve aspects, was not fully clear to me, I did not declare to the world of spirits, demons, and gods, with its seekers and sages, celestial and human beings, the realization of incomparable, perfect enlightenment.

But when, monks, my knowledge and vision of reality regarding these Four Noble Truths, in their three phases and twelve aspects, was fully clear to me, I declared to the world of spirits, demons, and gods, with its seekers and sages, celestial and human beings, that I understood incomparable, perfect enlightenment.”

As can be seen from the above quote, these truths are fundamental to the enlightenment (bodhi) of the Buddha, and therefore to the various types of Buddhism that are found around the world, including the Forest Buddhism of Ajahn Chah and his many disciples. The first truth is that of dukkha, a word with many connotations including suffering, unsatisfactory, and painful. Dukkha pervades every aspect of life. Again, the Buddha:

“Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha, grief, lamentation, pain, sorrow and despair are dukkha, association with the disliked is dukkha, separation from the liked is dukkha, not to get what one wants is dukkha.”

(Ibid.)

Dukkha is the underlying sense of the unsatisfactory nature of life, that feeling that things are never exactly the way one wants them to be. And even if one achieves a degree of happiness based on one’s desires, there is the fear of losing that happy state, of losing the cause of one’s joy. But why is this? The second noble truth, that of the origin of suffering gives us the answer:

“The craving (tanha) which causes rebirth and is bound up with pleasure and lust, ever seeking fresh delight, now here, now there; namely, craving for sense pleasure, craving for existence, and craving for annihilation.”

(Ibid.)

Tanha (desire or craving) is the cause of our suffering, according to the Buddha’s teachings. It is because we desire life to be a particular way that when it doesn’t live up to our expectations we suffer. Craving for sense desire includes not only physical stimuli that we cling to, but also those mental states that cause us pleasure and that we wish to see repeated again and again. By craving for existence is meant the craving to continue to live, to thrive, and to be the people that we are, to never change or die. Craving for annihilation refers to the desire to not exist, to achieve a state of oblivion, not only in the hope to die, but in the desire to go to sleep, to block the world through unconsciousness, through being blitzed out on drink and drugs. Tanha’s a pretty constant thing for those of us that haven’t reached awakening (bodhi).

The third noble truth, that of the ending of suffering, is the promise that there’s a way out of this mess of dukkha and the craving that causes it. The Buddha describes it thus:

“The complete cessation, giving up, abandonment of that craving, complete release from that craving, and complete detachment from it.”

(Ibid.)

Letting go of our attachment to those things we like, to those states that lead to our fleeting moments of happiness means that when we don’t get what we want, when we must face the more unpleasant side of life, we are able to bear it with equanimity. We have achieved the state of nirvana (literally ‘extinction’) which the Buddha described as the “extinction of greed, extinction of hate, extinction of delusion.”

This leaves us with the fourth noble truth, which is called magga (the ‘path’), or to give it its full title, Ariya Atthangika Magga: The Noble Eightfold Path. Again, the words of the Buddha from his first sermon:

“Only this Noble Eightfold Path; namely, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.”

(Ibid.)

The Noble Eightfold Path leads us from attachment to our desires, to the freedom that is the result of letting go. In brief, it consists of three aspects, the first of which is called sila (morality), samadhi (concentration), and panya (wisdom). Through cultivating this Path, one becomes more virtuous through practice of right speech, action and livelihood; one becomes more concentrated through right effort, mindfulness and concentration; and one becomes wiser through developing right intention and understanding. Right understanding itself acts as the core of the Eightfold Path, and includes the Four Noble Truths as its main focus, forming a neat loop between the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, both of which contains the other. 

To finish this brief introduction to the Four Noble Truths, it seems appropriate to refer to a modern teacher of these truths to show that they are a valid today as they were over two and half thousand years ago, when the Buddha first taught them. That modern teacher is Ajahn Chah, who centered his own practice upon the Four Noble Truths. He has said:

“When we know the truth of suffering we throw out suffering. When we know the cause of suffering then we don’t create those causes, but instead practice to bring suffering to its cessation. The practice leading to the cessation of suffering is to see that ‘this is not a self,’ ‘this is not me or them.’ That’s cessation. That’s getting close to nibbana. To put it another way, going forward is suffering, retreating is suffering and stopping is suffering. Not going forward, not retreating and not stopping…is anything left? Body and mind cease here. This is the cessation of suffering.”

(The Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp.207-208)

Buddhism by Numbers: 3 Characteristics

Central to understanding the Dharma, the way things are, is to comprehend and experience the three characteristics (tilakkhana). The three characteristics are common to all phenomena, and as such are the inherent attributes that when fully understood lead to the ultimate goal of Buddhism that is called nirvana. In the Dhammapada, a very popular collection of sayings from the Buddhist Scriptures, it is said that:

“All conditioned things are impermanent.

When one sees this with wisdom,

One turns away from suffering.

This is the path to purification.

All conditioned things are unsatisfactory.

When one sees this with wisdom,

One turns away from suffering.

This is the path to purification.

All things are not self.

When one sees this with wisdom,

One turns away from suffering.

This is the path to purification.”

(Dhammapada, verses 277-279)

By purification is meant the realization of enlightenment, which involves a pure clarity of mind as well as taintless moral behavior. Worth noting is that only conditioned things are impermanent (anicca) and unsatisfactory (dukkha), whereas conditioned things and the unconditioned (asankhata, another name for nirvana) are not self (anatta). This reveals two important aspects of the tilakkhana. Firstly, that everything is not self, the central and unique teaching of Buddhism, and secondly that while created things are ephemeral and imperfect, the uncreated (akata) is eternal (amata, literally ‘deathless’) and true happiness (sukha – the opposite of dukkha).*

  

Every morning in Thai monasteries, the three characteristics are recited as part of the daily chanting routine. Dukkha is applied to many aspects of life: birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, despair, association with the disliked, separation from what is liked, and not attaining one’s wishes. A pretty comprehensive list! This may seem to be a rather negative attitude to life, but Buddhists would counter that it’s simply seeing life for what it is. It’s being realistic. What’s more, the realization of the reality of dukkha enables us to adjust our lives so that we increase our levels of happiness that are based not on the desire for this or that, but on accepting the way things are.

The morning chant goes on to give further causes of suffering: our misidentification with various elements of being as making up a self. These 5 aggregates of clinging (pancupadanakkhandha) are identification with the body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. All five of these are natural, impersonal processes, they are not a self, but it is the delusion that they comprise a self that’s the ultimate reason that we cling to our desires and suffer. The same chant goes on to declare that all of the Five Aggregates are impermanent and not self, which is why true happiness is to found in seeing the way things are, and realizing nirvana.

Meditating on these themes with a pure, undistracted mind leads to the experience of awakening (bodhi), that the Buddha himself experienced over two thousand years ago. I hope that we might have the same revelation ourselves, transcending this world of impermanent, unsatisfactory, and selfless phenomena.

May all beings be happy!

*In Thai, suffering is rendered ความทุกข์ ‘kwam-tuk,’ and happiness is ความสุข ‘kwam-suk.’

Buddhism by Numbers: 3 Refuges

When becoming a Buddhist, or reaffirming one’s commitment to the Buddhist path, it is in the Three Refuges* (Tisarana in Pali) that one places one’s trust. These are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, or the Awakened One, his teachings, and his community of monks and enlightened disciples. The essential formula chanted by Buddhists the world over is:

Buddham saranam gacchami   (I go to the Buddha for refuge) 

Dhammam saranam gacchami (I go to the Dharma for refuge)

Sangham saranam gacchami    (I go to the Sangha for refuge)

Ajahn Sumedho has explained the meaning of the Three Refuges with both clarity and wisdom:

“The word ‘Buddha’ is a lovely word – it means ‘The one who knows’ – and the first refuge is in Buddha as the personification of wisdom. Un-personified wisdom remains too abstract for us: we can’t conceive a bodiless, soul-less wisdom, and so as wisdom always seems to have a personal quality to it, using Buddha as its symbol is very useful.”

(Ajahn Sumedho, Now is the Knowing, p.5)

So, when taking refuge in the Buddha, we’re not worshipping him as a god, and we’re not praying to him for some kind of assistance (not in forest Buddhism, at any rate!). We are simply recognizing wisdom as the origin and aim of Buddhist practice, using the person of the Awakened One as an ideal to aspire to. Ajahn Sumedho has also said:

“A refuge is a place of safety, and so when superstitious people would come to my teacher Ajahn Chah, wanting charmed medallions or little talismans to protect them from bullets and knives, ghosts and so on, he would say, ‘Why do you want things like that? The only real protection is taking refuge in the Buddha. Taking refuge in the Buddha is enough.’ But their faith in Buddha wasn’t quite as much as their faith in those silly little medallions. They wanted something made out of bronze and clay, taking refuge in that which is truly unsafe and cannot really help us.”

(Ibid. p.7)

On the second refuge, the Buddhist teachings, Ajahn Sumedho has taught the following:

“Taking refuge in Dhamma is taking another safe refuge. It is not taking refuge in philosophy or intellectual concepts, in theories, in ideas, in doctrines or beliefs of any sort. It is not taking refuge in a belief in Dhamma, or a belief in God or in some kind of force in outer space or something beyond or something separate, something that we have to find later. The descriptions of the Dhamma keep us in the present, in the here-and-now, unbound by time.”

(Ibid. p.11)

The true Dharma (Dhamma in the Pali language) is found here in our own hearts, and is revealed in the world around us, it is a living experience of the way things are in this moment, not a belief in the way we would like things to be. Neither is it a mere acceptance of Buddhist teachings as a set of dogmas to cling to, for Buddhism is about the letting go of our attachments, not creating more objects of desire. 

Ajahn Sumedho has described the refuge of the Sangha succinctly as well:

“The third refuge is Sangha, which means a group. ‘Sangha’ may be the Bhikkhu-Sangha (the order of monks) – or the Ariya-Sangha, the group of the Noble Beings, all those who live virtuously, doing good and refraining from evil with bodily action and speech. Here, taking refuge in the Sangha with ‘Sangham saranam gacchami’ means we take refuge in virtue, in that which is good, virtuous, kind, compassionate and generous.”

(Ibid. p.13)

Both ordained monks that inspire us with their commitment to the Path, and those noble ones that have reached nirvana, the ending of greed, hatred, and delusion, are to respected and looked upon as role models. In using such worthy ones as examples of how to live wisely and honorably, we can improve ourselves beyond recognition, becoming members of the Ariya-Sangha as we progress along the Buddhist path. Ajahn Sumedho sums up his approach to the Three Refuges with the following wise words, based on the contemplative tradition that started with the Buddha over two millennia ago and continues in the forest monasteries of Northeast Thailand and the rest of the world: 

“So may you reflect on this and really see Buddha Dhamma Sangha as a refuge. Look on them as opportunities for reflection and consideration. It is not a matter of believing in Buddha Dhamma Sangha – not a faith in concepts – but a using of symbols for mindfulness, for awakening the mind here-and-now, being here-and-now.”

(Ibid. p.17)

*Footnote: Another name for the Three Refuges is the Triple Gem (Tiratana), so called because they are considered by Buddhists to be more valuable than all the precious stones to be found in the world.

Buddhism by Numbers: 2 Kinds of Gifts

A popular practice in Thailand is to visit a temple and make merit (ทำบุญ / tum-boon in Thai). Thais take much comfort in the good results that they will receive from giving food, robes, and medicine to Buddhist monks, as seen in the current Khao Pansa (เข้าพรรษา) festivals, where temples are inundated with gifts. Of course, people don’t stop at giving just the four basic requisites to the monks, they will also offer candles, incense, toothbrushes, and just about anything else that they think the men in orange might need or want. It doesn’t always stop there, though. A monk at Wat Pah Nanachat here in Ubon Ratchathani told me that many laypeople even like to offer mobile phones to the monks – I didn’t know that enlightenment was available with a quick phone call nowadays!

All this isn’t to say that giving alms food and other stuff to monks is in any way ‘wrong’, it’s just that many (most?) Thai Buddhists seem to think that it’s all they need to do in their practice of the Buddha Dharma. And in this, they would be ‘wrong’! The Buddha taught that there are two kinds of gifts (dana) in this world. The first kind is what Buddhism calls amisadana, or material gifts, whilst the second kind is known as Dhammadana, or the gift of Truth. In the Pali Canon, he is quoted as saying:

“The gift of Dharma excels all other gifts.”

(Dhammapada, verse 354)

Ajahn Chah was also somewhat doubtful of the long term benefits of giving material gifts to the monks when not backing up such action with actually practicing the Buddhist Way. After all, this kind of behavior is akin to singing God’s praises in a church on a Sunday, then being an absolute heathen the rest of the week. The venerable forest master questioned the ultimate merit to be found in visiting temples to pay homage to the Sangha (the monks’ order), but then not bothering to learn how to improve themselves in any way. He compared it to trying to dye a dirty, unwashed cloth: it’ll still retain all the dirt.

Ajahn Chah was concerned that people use the Dharma as a stopover point, flitting from temple to temple like a crazed bee, picking up the pollen of desire and dumping at the next flower, only to collect more ‘pollen’ there. People want to perform good works, in the hope that this will deliver good results for them in the future; they’re not concerned with giving up unwholesome acts, such as those refrained from in the five precepts.

This desire to receive future benefit from making merit is often geared towards material goals, rather than spiritual ones. Merit makers are all too often caught up in the desire to accrue more social status or wealth, but remain unconcerned with increasing the amount of kindness, compassion, and wisdom in their lives. Ajahn Chah taught that we can accrue merit whilst sat in our homes, if we practice according to the Dharma, developing wholesome mind states such as harmlessness, generosity, equanimity and mindfulness. He told merit-making visitors to Wat Nong Pah Pong that the highest form of merit is giving up that which is unwholesome: giving to the poor and to monks are good deeds, which will sow the seeds for future happiness, but if wrongdoing is not relinquished also, that happiness will be short-lived. 

As an interesting footnote, many merit-makers that visited the great ajahn would also request numbers from him, believing that as he was a highly-accomplished meditation master, Ajahn Chah could supply them with winning lottery numbers. He always refused to give his visitors any numbers, emphasizing that practicing the Buddha Dharma was the real way to achieve something good in this life. He never denied the existence of magic, but just felt that people’s focus should be on the true magic of Dharma. In a final twist of irony, after Ajahn Chah’s death, many local people in Ubon used the date of his demise as their lottery numbers – and they won! 

Going to a temple and making merit is a worthy endeavor, and one which I would never say people shouldn’t do, but if practiced in isolation, without following the Buddhist precepts or developing mindfulness and kindness, the merit made will be much less potent, and unable to counter the future effects of unwholesome action. To truly give the gift of Dharma doesn’t just mean teaching Buddhist ideas to others, nor paying for the publication of Dharma books, but in actually living those teachings day to day. This is the heart of the Buddhist path to Awakening.

Buddhism by Numbers: 1 True Type of Friend

Living near by, I often visit Wat Pah Nanachat (the International Forest Monastery), here in Northeast Thailand. Sometimes the resident monks aren’t around, presumably busy either with their daily chores or meditating in their kutis (meditation huts) out in the forest. This was the case on one such visit, so I sat in the main hall reflecting on the Buddharupa (Buddha statue), enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, when three Thai bhikkhus (monks) walked in. As they didn’t speak much English, and my Thai isn’t good enough for a deep discussion of Buddhism, we got by with a mixture of small talk and hand gestures.

We talked for about half an hour. It turned out that they were visiting form another monastery in the lineage of Ajahn Chah in Mukdahan (another province in Northeast Thailand), and that they’d been bhikkhus for a year. I asked if they enjoyed living a renunciate lifestyle, which they said they did, and they invited me to stay with them at their temple. I thanked them for the invitation, and we said our farewells, their faces full of bright smiles, and I thought to myself that I’d made some new friends in the Dharma.

In Buddhism, there is the word kalyanamitta which means ‘noble (or good) friend’. This true type of friend is one that sets a good example of how to apply the Buddhist Teachings to one’s life, through their words and deeds, and is most often a monk (though not necessarily). Over the many moons of being a Buddhist, I have had the good fortune to make many acquaintances in the order of monks (bhikkhu-sangha), some of them good friends. Unlike other friends that I’ve had over the years, these bhikkhus have been wholly wholesome influences on me; they’ve never used unkind or disparaging speech with me, they’ve never behaved in ways that could be described as wicked or nasty, and they’ve never bought me alcoholic beverages, encouraging me to get ‘blitzed’!

  

In England, I had good friends in the Dharma at both Cittaviveka and Amaravati monasteries, and in Thailand I’ve made friends with some of the bhikkhus at Wat Pah Nanachat. Sometimes, I’ve sat discussing Dharma with them for well over an hour, with their patient responses to my endless queries always directing me to the wholesome and beneficial. They are true friends (kalyanamittata), giving their time and attention with the Dharma in mind. Thank you, bhikkhus!

Buddhist monks are not the only kind of true friends, of course, and neither are Buddhists in general. I’ve had many good pals over the years that wouldn’t know a bhikkhu from a buddha, but they were nice, decent people, who lived life in a spirit of honesty and kindness. I’ve learnt many important lessons from them, and owe them a deep sense of gratitude. The Lord Buddha once instructed a layman that:

“In whatever village or town that a family man dwells, he associates with householders or their sons, whether young or old, who are of mature virtue, accomplished in faith, moral discipline, generosity, and wisdom; he converses with them and engages in discussions with them. He emulates them in regard to their accomplishment in faith, moral discipline, generosity, and wisdom. This is called good friendship.” 

(Anuttara Nikaya 8.54, Tipitaka)

                             

And when his cousin, the Venerable Ananda, said that half of the spiritual life was good friendship, the Buddha replied in the following way:

“Not so, Ananda, not so! This is the entire spiritual life, 

Ananda, that is good friendship, good comradeship.”

(Samyutta Nikaya 45.6, Tipitaka)

Watching the monks at Wat Pah Nanachat, Wat Amaravati and other forest temples, I’ve noted how comradeship in the Dharma is so important to them as they support each other’s progress in the spiritual life. It’s easy sometimes to think that we’ve got it sussed, that we know all the answers, but no one has all the answers - not unless they’re fully enlightened. We can help each other on the Path by being kalyanamittata, by being the best kind of best friends.

Review: Everything is the Way, by Elihu Genmyo Smith

These days, books by American Zen masters seem two to the dozen. And, while not wishing to cast aspersions, a sizable minority of 'em seem to have been caught with their trousers down - or their robes 'up,' as the case may be. Either that, or their actions do not match up to their 'wise' words in some other way, perhaps involving money, alcohol, drugs or…you get the picture. But, with Everything is the Way,: Ordinary Mind Zen, we seem to have the teachings of a genuine American Zen master, who doesn't merely talk the talk, but can also walk the walk, as American Zen meters like to say.

The author of Everything is the Way is Elihu Genmyo Smith, a Dharma heir of Charlette Joko Beck, and whose teachers have included Soen Nakagawa & Taizan Maezumi amongst others. He is cofounder of the Ordinary Mind Zen School & is resident teacher at the Prairie Zen Center - what a wonderfully unpretentious name that is! His teaching style is also unpretentious & down to earth, and has the taste of genuine enlightenment to be found in-between the words. The words themselves are pretty good, too, as it happens, but what they point to is what the author calls "Unborn Buddha-Mind. (Everything is the Way, p.8" (The latter being a popular term also used by the seventeenth century Japanese Zen master Bankei.)

The heart of Smith's message is what he calls sitting. By this, he doesn't just mean sitting in front of the TV, or lounging on the sofa with a good book, but is referring to the Zen practice of zazen. His lineage of Zen is partly traced back to the Zen master Dogen, who is credited with bringing the Soto Sect of Zen Buddhism to Japan from China in the thirteenth century. In this branch of Zen, the emphasis is not on koans, those bizarre riddles much lauded by the famous D.T. Suzuki, but on 'just sitting.' This means to sit without having anything in particular in mind, to watch what arises naturally in it and then let go. Smith sees this as an invaluable tool to awaken to the Unborn Buddha-Mind.

The book is divided into five parts, each focusing on a major aspect of Buddhist practice or teaching: practice, impermanence, nonself, being transparency, and jukai (the ceremony of formally becoming a Buddhist in Japan). The work flows with inspirational prose and anecdotes from Smith's life, presenting the Dharma in a way most engaging to the reader. There is a feeling of integrity to his words, and a sense that what he has written has come from direct experience and not a kind of armchair Zen. (There's sitting, and there's sitting, after all!) Here are a few choice morsels from the book to whet your appetite, bereft of any comment as this reviewer feels that they stand up on there own, without his interference.

"Unfortunately, we often fail to appreciate this life because we want our life to be other than what we think it is. Our life is this wonderful functioning, whether we call it Buddha-nature, emptiness, or whatever. We are in the midst of this, but we do not know it, we search for air and for water as if there was something else somewhere else. Do we need to know what it is in order to appreciate our life? Truly, we have no need to 'know it'; we are this, whether we know it or not. Functioning as our life, as the fish in water or the bird flying in the sky, the joy of life is always right here. How wonderful! Sadly, living out of self-centered attachment is suffering; thus we fail to see and appreciate what our life truly is"

(Ibid. p.16)

"Practice is not about getting rid of weeds; it is not about getting rid of deluded thoughts and going out to find truth elsewhere. It is this very energy, this greed, anger, and ignorance as is, which is the practice-effort opportunity of being this moment. There is no need to avoid illusion. Weeds are weeds! Tomatoes are tomatoes! Though it is important to see that weeds and tomatoes are exactly this life functioning, this can be mere theory, and not much use. I will pull up weeds; I will grow and eat the tomatoes, not weeds. Dogen Zenji clarifies this in 'Genjokoan': 'Nevertheless, flowers fall amid attachment, weeds spring up amid apathy.'"

(Ibid. 102)

"What is this ceaselessly seeking mind? Look! Only this seeking mind gets in the way of this True Person functioning. Bringing this ceaseless seeking to rest is allowing thoughts to come and go freely; then they are at rest. And 'you will not differ from the ancestor Buddha.' When the second Ancestor requests, 'My mind is not at rest, please put it at rest,' Bodhidharma responds, 'Bring me this restless mind.' Finally, the Second Ancestor sees for himself the ungraspableness of this seeking; he tells Bodhidharma that this mind is 'nowhere to be found.' Realizing this, ceaseless seeking is therefore at rest."

(Ibid. p.170)

"We maintain nonharming by noticing when we get caught up. Noticing when we get caught up is the opportunity of experiencing, the opportunity to be this moment. My teacher Joko Beck had an expression: 'Stop and pop.' 'Stop' is noticing being caught up in or holding to emotion-thought; noticing is the 'stop' of the moment. Then you 'pop' into this moment, or open as this body-mind moment. Having a nice phrase like this is of value when it leads to our practice effort of this moment. Zazen is that opportunity for all of us sitting here; zazen is an opportunity to nurture life, to inhabit this compassionate life that we are, being just this moment."

(Ibid. p.256)

What a great idea - and not atypical of this book. In Everything is the Way, Elihu Genmyo Smith has written an excellent Dharma book, full of such practical advice on how to realize and keep sight of our Unborn Buddha-Mind. Apparently unattached to tradition for its own sake, he is open to innovative ways to awaken us to our true nature, and communicates this in a down-to-earth manner. Not that he is merely a pedlar of Buddhist teachings & practices, there is a quality in his writing that appears to come straight out of this Unborn Buddha-Mind. If we read this book with diligence & receptivity, we may too see this 'True Person.' And we would be in eternal debt to the author.

Title & Author : Everything is the Way, by Elihu Genmyo Smith

Publishers      : Shambhala Publications

Page Count    : 304

Price               : $17.95

ISBN               : 9781590309728

Web Link        : The book's page on the Shambhala Publications site

Review: The Buddha's Philosophy, by G.F. Allen

The Buddha's Philosophy is a reprint of a book originally published in 1959. Many older books on Buddhism often have subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) misconceptions about its teachings, but this work is spot on. It is divided into two parts, the first an introduction to the subject matter penned by the author, and the second comprising translations from Buddhist scriptures. The balance between the two is nice, although more pages of actual translations might have been beneficial to the work as a whole. (The ratio is 82 pages of introductory material & 70 pages of translated texts.) This minor grumble does not deny the book's value, however, and as a primer on the essential teachings of the Buddha as found in the Canon, it is excellent. The following section on Nibbana (a synonym for Buddhist enlightenment) is typical of the book:

"It is not surprising that early European scholars came to the conclusion that Nibbana meant annihilation. But to call it so is a misleading half-truth; Nibbana is the result of the annihilation of ignorance, of the annihilation of sorrow. In one word, Nibbana is CESSATION - the cessation of the process that is motivated by ignorance. 'The cessation of becoming is Nibbana (S ii, 68).

Nibbana is cessation! A more positive description or definition than this of the goal of the Buddhist cannot be expressed in words, for no words describe the indescribable. The early Pali texts name it 'rare', 'peaceful', 'beyond reasoning', 'subtle' …"

(The Buddha's Philosophy, p.34)

The Pali Canon is known in the scriptural Indian language in which it was composed as the Tipitika, which roughly translates as the 'Three Collections.' Whilst it is recognized by the other major branch of Buddhism that is prevalent in China, Japan and Tibet, Mahayana, it has been superseded by subsequent, and doctrinally somewhat different, scriptures. It is within Theravada Buddhism (which is found in Sri Lanka, Burma & Thailand) that the Pali Canon is revered as the teachings of the Buddha, sometimes in an almost fundamentalist manner. (Peacefully fundamentalist, that is!) The Buddha's Philosophy does not fall into this trap, however, recognizing the historical development of the Pail Canon, which is of much credit to its author.

"In attempting to work out a chronological sequence of the contents of the Pali Canon, other factors than the mere nature and doctrinal significance of the texts are to be considered. The language and its etymology sometimes offer important clues as to the age of its subject-matter. The suttas of the Attaka Vagga of the Sutta Nipata exhibit characteristics of some early, Upanishadic style in India sacred literature. In the later canonical Pali, two further strata are apparent: the metrical portions of Udana, Iti Vuttuka, Thera-Theri Gatha and Jataka contain gatha or verses that are now considered to be older than the prose context in which very many of them stand."

(Ibid. pp.93-94)

The work's author & primary translator - some texts are products of the Pali Text Society - is G.F. Allen. Unlike most western translators of Buddhist texts, Allen had actually been a Buddhist monk, giving him access to traditional insights into the Pali Canon denied to many occidental scholars of the subject. This monastic affinity with the subject matter gives the book an overall feeling of credibility when Allen presents the material. And this he does in a clear, methodical manner - the extract above is unusually dense when compared to most of the book. It does illustrate the author's knowledge of his subject, however. The Introduction, named Buddha and Dhamma, is a step-by-step guide to the historical context of the Buddha, his life, and his teaching (as found in the Pali Canon). It includes a wonderful explanation of the Dhamma (the Buddha's teaching), reminiscent of the famous work by Dr Walpola Rahula called What the Buddha Taught. Like that work, this book enables its reader to gain a grasping of all the basic teachings of the Buddha, as well his life & person. This is followed by a second section containing the translations, called The Teaching: Dhamma and Discipline. Here are some extracts form this part of the book:

"These two extremes are not to be practiced by one who has abandoned the worldly life. What two? On the one hand indulging in sensuous pleasures, which is low, coarse, vulgar, ignoble, and useless; and on the other hand indulging in self-torture, which is painful, ignoble, and useless. Avoiding these two extremes the Tathagatha teaches the Middle Way that brings insight and knowledge, and leads to calm and wisdom, awakening, Nirvana."

(Ibid. p.105)

"Disciples, when other people adversely criticize me, or criticize the Dhamma or the Sangha, you should not feel annoyed or perturbed, nor bear ill-will. For if you, as the result of such criticism, become angry and put out, that would upset your equipoise. If, when others criticize, one experiences anger and bitterness, would one be able to estimate accurately the pros and cons of the criticism?"

(Ibid. pp.153-154)

"Furthermore, monks, when one is walking one knows 'I am walking'; when one is standing one knows 'I am standing'; when one is sitting one knows 'I am sitting'; when one is lying down one knows 'I am lying down'; in whichever of these position one's body is, one remains aware of it."

(Ibid. p.161)

So, in this reviewer's opinion, The Buddha's Philosophy is an excellent introduction to the life & teachings of the Buddha, as found in the Pail Canon. It does not include any of the scriptures credited to the Buddha found in Mahayana Buddhism. Because of this, its scope is somewhat limited, like that similar work mentioned above, What the Buddha Taught. This is not, however, such a terrible thing. Books that include both Theravadin and Mahayana philosophy can be notoriously difficult, and are probably not best suited to first-time readers of Buddhist teachings. The basics are all here; the four noble truths, the noble eightfold path, the three characteristics, enlightenment, and dependent arising (here rendered as 'Causal Formula'). Important texts from the Pali Canon are included also, such as the Buddha's first & second discourses, the monk's 'patimokkha' rules, and the Satipatthana Sutta (a treatise on mindfulness as the way to enlightenment). Reading these works can instill in the reader a conviction that they represent true reality, and that to walk the way of the Buddha is to move towards enlightenment. Allen's work here enables us to make the frost tentative steps towards enlightenment; if you are ready, buy this book, and wad on!

Title & Author : The Buddha's Philosophy, by G. F. Allen

Publishers      : Routledge Books

Page Count    : 196

Price               : $26.00

ISBN               : 978-0-415-61195-4

Web Link        : The book's page on Routledge Books website