Harvey, PP 8-31

more information – www.cambridge.
org/9780521859424
AN INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM
In this new edition of the bestselling Introduction to Buddhism, Peter

Harvey provides a comprehensive introduction to the development of
the Buddhist tradition in both Asia and the West. Extensively revised
and fully updated, this new edition draws on recent scholarship in the
field, and explores the tensions and continuities between the different
forms of Buddhism. Harvey critiques and corrects some common
misconceptions and mistranslations, and discusses key concepts that
have often been over-simplified and over-generalized.
The volume includes detailed references to scriptures and secondary
literature, an updated bibliography and a section on web resources.
Key terms are given in Pali and Sanskrit, and Tibetan words are
transliterated in the most easily pronounceable form. This truly acces-
sible account is an ideal coursebook for students of religion, Asian
philosophy and Asian studies, and is also a useful reference for readers
wanting an overview of Buddhism and its beliefs.
peter harvey is Emeritus Professor of Buddhist Studies at the

University of Sunderland. He is the author of An Introduction to
Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues (Cambridge, 2000)
and The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvana in Early
Buddhism (Curzon, 1995). He is editor of the Buddhist Studies Review
and one of the two founders of the UK Association for Buddhist
Studies.
Frontispiece: The ‘Peace Pagoda’ in Battersea Park, London
AN INTRODUCTION TO
BUDDHISM
Teachings, History and Practices
second edition
PETER HARVEY
cambridge university press
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town,
Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521859424
© Peter Harvey 2013
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception

and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First edition published 1990, reprinted twenty times.

Second edition first published 2013
Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by the MPG Books Group
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data

Harvey, Peter (Brian Peter)
An introduction to Buddhism : teachings, history and practices / Peter Harvey. – Second edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-521-85942-4
1. Buddhism. I. Title.
bq4022.h37 2012
294.3–dc23
2012021011
isbn 978-0-521-85942-4 Hardback

isbn 978-0-521-67674-8 Paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or

accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to
in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such
websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
May any karmic fruitfulness (puñña) generated by writing this work
be for the benefit of my parents, wife and daughter, all who read this
book, and indeed all beings.
Namo tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammā-sambuddhassa
Honour to the Blessed One, Arahat,
perfectly and completely Awakened One!
The author (second from the right) accompanied by two Samatha Trust teachers at a festival
at Ratanagiri Vihāra, Northumberland, UK, giving alms to Ajahn Sumedho, then head of
the Forest Sangha.
Contents
List of illustrations page xi

List of tables xiii
Preface to the Second Edition, and Acknowledgements xv
A Note on Language and Pronunciation xviii
List of abbreviations xxi
Introduction 1
1 The Buddha and his Indian Context 8
Background to the life of the Buddha 8
The life of the Buddha 14
The nature and role of the Buddha 27
The nature and style of the Buddha’s teaching 29
2 Early Buddhist Teachings: Rebirth and Karma 32
Rebirth and cosmology 32
Karma 39
Belief in rebirth and karma 46
3 Early Buddhist Teachings: The Four True Realities for the
Spiritually Ennobled 50
The First True Reality for the Spiritually Ennobled: the painful 52
The Second True Reality for the Spiritually Ennobled: the origin of the
painful 62
The Third True Reality for the Spiritually Ennobled: the cessation of the
painful – Nirvāna 73
˙
The Fourth True Reality for the Spiritually Ennobled: the Path to the
cessation of the painful 81
4 Early Developments in Buddhism 88
The early Saṅgha 88
The Abhidhamma 90
vii
viii Contents
The early schools and their doctrines 92
The three aspirations, Jātakas and Avadānas 99
Emperor Asoka and Buddhism 100
Devotion and symbolism in early Buddhism 103
The rise of the Mahāyāna 108
5 Mahāyāna Philosophies: The Varieties of Emptiness 114
The Perfection of Wisdom literature and the Mādhyamika school 114
The Yogācāra school 127
Tathāgata-garbha thought 138
The Avatamsaka Sūtra and the Huayan School 145
˙
A comparative overview of Mahāyāna philosophies and their ideas of
‘emptiness’ 149
6 Mahāyāna Holy Beings, and Tantric Buddhism 151
The path of the Bodhisattva 151
Mahāyāna Buddhology: expansion with regard to the number, location,
life-span and nature of Buddhas 161
The Mahāyāna pantheon 172
The tantric perspective 180
7 The Later History and Spread of Buddhism 194
India and Central Asia 194
Laṅkā 196
South-east Asia excluding Vietnam 199
The lands of Northern Buddhism 202
China 210
Vietnam and Korea 224
Japan 226
Overview and comparative reflections 235
8 Buddhist Practice: Devotion 237
Focuses and locations of devotional acts 238
Bowing, offerings and chanting 240
The refuges 244
Attitudes to images 247
Protective chanting 249
Some Mahāyāna focuses of devotion 250
Pilgrimage 258
Festivals 259
9 Buddhist Practice: Ethics 264
The role and basis of ethics in Buddhism 264
Giving 267
Contents ix
Keeping the precepts 268
Lovingkindness and compassion 278
Care for the dying and the dead 281
The ethics of social relationships 282
10 Buddhist Practice: The Saṅgha 287
The role of monasticism 288
The monastic code of discipline 289
Patterns and types of ordination 294
Nuns 298
The economic base of the monastic life 302
Study and meditation 305
Communal life 310
Relations with the laity 314
11 Buddhist Practice: Meditation and Cultivation of
Experience-Based Wisdom 318
The approach to meditation 319
Qualities to be developed by meditation 321
Approaches beginning with samatha in Southern Buddhism 325
The contributions of samatha and vipassanā meditation in Southern
Buddhism 332
Approaches beginning with vipassanā in Southern Buddhism 334
The classical path of śamatha and vipaśyanā in Northern and Eastern
Buddhism 340
Pure Land visualizations 344
Tantric visualizations 347
Tantric techniques of spontaneity 357
Zen meditation 361
12 The Modern History of Buddhism in Asia 376
Southern Buddhism 377
Eastern Buddhism 402
Northern Buddhism 413
13 Buddhism Beyond Asia 419
The early influence of Buddhism through literature, philosophy and
psychology 419
The Theosophical Society: a bridge between East and West 420
Scholarship 421
The internet, films and music 424
Immigration 424
Categories of Buddhists, and their characteristics and numbers 427
Buddhist missions and organizations 431
x Contents
Appendix I: Canons of Scriptures 459
Appendix II: Web Resources 463
Bibliography 468
Index 491
Illustrations
Frontispiece: The ‘Peace Pagoda’ in Battersea Park, London. page ii

Dedication page: The author accompanied by two Samatha
Trust teachers at a festival at Ratanagiri Vihāra,
Northumberland, UK, giving alms to Ajahn
Sumedho, then head of the Forest Sangha. v
maps
1 Current location of Buddhism in Asia. 6

2 The region where the Buddha lived and taught. 12
figures
1 Sāñcī Stūpa. (Adapted from A. Volwahsen, Living

Architecture – India, Macdonald, 1969, p. 91.) 104
2 Chart showing the presence, dominance and residual survival
of Buddhism in different lands. 236
plates
1 A nineteenth-century Burmese image, showing Gotama at his

‘conquest of Māra’, just prior to his awakening. (Reproduced
by kind permission of Durham University Oriental
Museum.) 21
2 An image from Sārnāth, showing the Buddha making the
gesture of ‘Setting in motion the Dhamma-wheel’,
symbolizing his first sermon (fifth or sixth century ce).
(Reproduced by kind permission of Ann and Bury Peerless
Slide Resources and Picture Library.) 107
xi
xii List of illustrations
3 A t’angka, or hanging scroll, depicting the Bodhisattva
Mañjuśrī, at a Tibetan Buddhist College in the Lake District,
England. (Reproduced by kind permission of Andy Weber.) 179
4 Vajrapāni holding a Vajra and Vajra-bell. (Reproduced by
˙
kind permission of Nick Cope, University of Sunderland.) 184
5 A Tibetan image of the Heruka Yamāntaka and his female
consort. (Reproduced by kind permission of the Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford.) 187
6 An image of Tārā in the courtyard of a temple in
Kathmandu, Nepal. 188
7 Ruvanvelisāya Dagoba, Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka.
(Reproduced by kind permission of Stuart McLeod.) 239
8 A Thai Buddha-image and offerings, in the shrine-room of a
meditation centre in Manchester, England. 242
9 A modern porcelain figure of Guanyin. 252
10 Senju (1,000-armed) Kannon Bosatsu, at pilgrimage
temple no. 58, Senyū-ji, Shikoku, Japan. (Courtesy of
Yuka Itawaki, pilgrimage temple no. 55, Nankō-bō, with
the help of Ryofu Pussel.) 253
11 A small Japanese shrine depicting Amitābha and his two
Bodhisattva helpers. Lacquered wood, with sandalwood
figures. (Reproduced by kind permission of the Trustees of
the British Museum.) 256
12 A t’angka showing a mandala surrounded by a number of
˙˙
Vajrayāna deities and spiritually realized beings.
(Reproduced by kind permission of Durham University
Oriental Museum.) 351
13 Landscape with Pine Trees and Hut, by Bunsei, fifteenth-
century Japan. (Reproduced by kind permission of Special
Chinese and Japanese Fund, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.) 374
Tables
1 Factors of the Eight-factored Path page 83

2 Bodhisattva stages and perfections 156
3 Indian tantric texts 182
4 States developed on the basis of samatha meditation 331
5 Number of Southern Buddhists in Asia 377
6 Number of Eastern Buddhists in Asia 403
7 Number of Buddhists in Japan by different criteria 408
8 Number of Northern Buddhists in Asia 414
9 Buddhist groups, centres, monastery/temples and
organizations in the USA 433
organizations in the UK and Ireland 442
organizations in Europe 452
organizations in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil,
South Africa and Israel 457
xiii
Preface to the Second Edition,
and Acknowledgements
The first edition of this book has sold over 55,000 copies since its publica-
tion in 1990, and has translations in French, Italian and Spanish. It has been
used as a textbook from MA level down to secondary school level.
The book was aimed to give a balanced overview of the panorama of
Buddhisms in the world, for students, Buddhists and the general public. As
a writer, I was an ‘insider’ to Buddhism looking outwards to help others
look inside its many ‘rooms’. My own starting point was as: a scholar of
Theravāda Buddhism who was mainly used to working with textual ma-
terial, someone whose first degree was in philosophy, who had taught a
university course on Buddhism for a number of years, a practising
Theravāda Buddhist, and a meditation teacher in the Samatha Trust
tradition. In order to write an introduction to Buddhism as a whole, I
had to broaden beyond my base in exploring the textual sources of
Mahāyāna Buddhism, and historical and anthropological accounts of all
traditions. My background meant that I wrote as an ‘insider’ to various
strands of Theravāda Buddhism, but as a sympathetic ‘outsider’ to
Mahāyāna traditions and even some strands of Theravāda.
My aims in the new edition are as in the first edition, though now also
including a greater willingness to explore tensions as well as continuities
between the different forms of Buddhism:
1. to present as comprehensive an overview of Buddhism as possible;
2. to introduce key ideas/practices/developments, linking them to textual
citations, where relevant;
3. to show their relationship to other ideas and practices of the same
tradition;
4. to show their parallels in other Buddhist traditions;
5. to present the diversities within Buddhism, but in a way which allows the
reader to see how one thing led to another: the continuities, and thus the
xv
xvi Preface to the Second Edition, and Acknowledgements
uniting common threads that run through the tapestry of Buddhism,
sometimes with a similar end attained by different means;
6. to nevertheless explore some tensions between the different forms of
Buddhism;
7. to show how Buddhism works as a set of practices, not just a set of beliefs;
8. to show the overall dynamics of how Buddhism ‘works’;
9. to include a good range of illustrations, from all the traditions;
10. to convey something of the emotional tone or ‘flavour(s)’ of Buddhism;
11. to emphasize aspects of Buddhism that particularly help to illuminate
Buddhism as it is now, showing the relevance of historical develop-
ments to the present.
The focus is on the main developments, ideas and practices, and their
relationships, seeking a breadth of coverage with interlinked shafts of
depth, and to convey Buddhism’s nature as a living tradition.
This second edition has been thoroughly revised throughout. It gives
detailed references to both scriptures and secondary literature, the bibliog-
raphy is updated and a section on web resources is added, which is also
available online at www.cambridge.org/harvey. It provides both Pali and
Sanskrit versions of key terms, uses Pinyin forms for Chinese terms (with
Wade-Giles forms given on first use), with pronounceable forms used for
Tibetan names and terms (with the Wylie transcription forms given on first
use). When an italicized foreign term is used in the plural, an unitalicized s is
added, for clarity.
Throughout, more explanations and clarifications have been added. In
Chapter 2 and elsewhere, ‘karmic fruitfulness’ is used as a translation for
puñña, rather than the common but rather limp ‘merit’. In Chapter 3, the
ariya-saccas are translated and explained as ‘True Realities for the Spiritually
Ennobled’, rather than ‘Noble Truths’ or ‘Holy Truths’, with dukkha as ‘the
painful’/‘painful’ and anattā as ‘non-Self’ rather than ‘not-self’. Also, a section
on ‘Nirvāna as an object of insight’ has been added. In Chapter 4, there is a
new section˙ on ‘The three aspirations, Jātakas and Avadānas’, and more
attention is given to the heritage of the school that has become known as
the ‘Theravāda’, in part to more clearly differentiate it from early Buddhism.
In Chapter 5, attention is given to the varying senses of the key term
‘emptiness’ in Mahāyāna thought, as for example in the self-emptiness and
other-emptiness debate in Tibetan Buddhism, and in developments of
Tathāgata-garbha thought in East Asian Buddhism. In Chapter 6, more
attention is given to differentiating the different kinds of Bodhisattva, and
the section on Tantra is considerably expanded.
Preface to the Second Edition, and Acknowledgements xvii
Chapter 7 now includes a section on esoteric or ‘tantric’ Southern
Buddhism. Chapter 8 traces several uniting concerns through the devo-
tional activities it explores. Chapter 9 draws on research from my Introduction
to Buddhist Ethics. Chapter 10 includes updated material on the revival of the
bhikkhunī ordination line in the Theravāda. Chapter 11, on meditation, has
been restructured and developed in more depth. It now includes sections on
‘Qualities to be developed by meditation’, ‘The contributions of samatha and
vipassanā meditation in Southern Buddhism’, ‘Some recent methods of
vipassanā practice’, ‘The cakras and the “six yogas of Nāropa”’, ‘Sexual
yoga’, ‘Mahāmudrā’, ‘Dzogch’en’ and ‘Zen in action: straightforward mind
at all times’.
Chapter 12, on Buddhism in modern Asia, has been considerably
updated, for example to include material on the Dhammakāya and Santi
Asoke movements in Thailand, the interaction of Buddhism and spirit
religion in Sri Lanka, and in Japan, the ‘Critical Buddhism’ debate and
the Nichiren Shōshū/Sōka Gakkai split. Chapter 13, on Buddhism beyond
Asia, has been extensively updated, and with new sections on ‘The internet,
films and music’, ‘Immigration’ and ‘Categories of Buddhists, and their
characteristics and numbers’. Both Chapters 12 and 13 contain many new
tables, and both include material on ‘Engaged Buddhism’.
I would like to express my gratitude to Lance S. Cousins, now of
Wolfson College, Oxford, for his very valuable comments on a draft of
the first edition of this work, and Paul Harrison, of Stanford University,
for his various comments on this edition.
I would also like to thank: Russell Webb for information on Buddhism in
Europe; Cathy Cantwell, of Oxford University, for her comments on tantric
material; my students Mary Jaksch, of the New Zealand Diamond Sangha,
for help in understanding kōans, and Aigo Pedro Castro Sánchez, author of
Las Eseñanzas de Dōgen, for help in understanding the use of the term
Mahāsattva; Jane Caple, of Leeds University, for information on numbers
of Northern Buddhists in China; Ajahn Tiradhammo for his comments on
the chapter on the Saṅgha; and Stewart McFarlaine, formerly of Lancaster
University, for his help with some points on Eastern Buddhism.
A Note on Language and Pronunciation
Most of the foreign words in this work are from Pali and Sanskrit, which are
closely related languages of ancient India. Pali is the scriptural, liturgical and
scholarly language of Southern (Theravāda) Buddhism, one of the three
main cultural traditions of Buddhism. Sanskrit, or rather ‘Buddhist Hybrid
Sanskrit’, is the language in which many of the scriptures and scholarly
treatises of Mahāyāna Buddhism came to be written in India. Northern and
Eastern Buddhism, where the Mahāyāna form of Buddhism predominates,
generally use the Tibetan or Chinese translations of these texts. Many works
on Buddhism give only Sanskrit versions of words, but this is artificial as
Sanskrit is no longer used by Buddhists (except in Nepal), but Pali is still
much in use. This work therefore uses the Pali version of terms (followed in
brackets on first use by the Sanskrit) for most of early Buddhism, for
Southern Buddhism, and when discussing Buddhism in general. Sanskrit
versions are used when particularly discussing Mahāyāna forms of
Buddhism, for some early schools which also came to use Sanskrit, and
when discussing Hinduism. The Sanskrit term ‘Stūpa’, referring to a relic
mound, is also used in preference to the less well-known Pali term ‘Thūpa’;
the same applies to ‘Nirvāna’ rather than ‘Nibbāna’. An unitalicized Sanskrit
‘karma’ is also used instead ˙ of Pali ‘kamma’, as it is now also an English
word. In many cases, Pali and Sanskrit terms are spelt the same. Where the
spellings are different, the Pali spelling is the simpler one.
Both Pali and Sanskrit have more than twenty-six letters, so to write them
in the Roman alphabet means that this needs to be expanded by the use of
diacritical marks. Once the specific sounds of the letters are known, Pali and
Sanskrit words are then pronounced as they are written, unlike English
ones. It is therefore worth taking account of the diacritical marks, as they
give a clear guide to pronunciation. The letters are pronounced as follows:
1. a is short and flat, like the u in ‘hut’ or ‘utter’
i is short, like i in ‘bit’
u is like u in ‘put’, or oo in ‘foot’
xviii
A Note on Language and Pronunciation xix
e is like e in ‘bed’, only pronounced long
o is long, like o in ‘note’ (or, before more than one consonant, more like
o in ‘not’ or ‘odd’).
2. A bar over a vowel makes it long:
ā is like a in ‘barn’
ī is like ee in ‘beet’
ū is like u in ‘brute’.
3. Sanskrit also has the vowels ai and au, respectively pronounced like the
‘ai’ in aisle and ‘ow’ in vow. Thus Jain rhymes with line, not with Jane.
4. When there is a dot under a letter (t., d, n, s., r., .l ), this means that it is a
‘cerebral’ letter. Imagine a dot on the ˙roof˙ of one’s mouth that one must
touch with one’s tongue when saying these letters. This produces a
characteristically ‘Indian’ sound. It also makes s. into a sh sound, and r.
into ri.
5. The Sanskrit letter h. represents an aspiration of the preceding vowel: an
‘h’ sound followed by a slight echo of the vowel, e.g. duh.kha as duhukha.
6. ś is like a normal sh sound.
7. Aspirated consonants (kh, gh, ch, jh, t.h, dh, th, dh, ph, bh) are accom-
panied by a strong breath-pulse from the ˙chest, as when uttering English
consonants very emphatically. For example:
ch is like ch-h in ‘church-hall’
th is like t-h in ‘hot-house’
ph is like p-h in ‘cup-handle’
When aspirated consonants occur as part of a consonant cluster, the
aspiration comes at the end of the cluster.
8. c is like ch in ‘choose’.
9. ñ is like ny in ‘canyon’, ññ is like nnyy.
10. m is a pure nasal sound, made when the mouth is closed but air escapes
˙
through the nose, with the vocal chords vibrating; it approximates to ng.
11. ṅ is an ng, nasal sound said from the mouth, rather than the nose.
12. v may be somewhat similar to English v when at the start of a word, or
between vowels, but like w when combined with another consonant.
13. Double consonants are always pronounced long, for example nn is as in
‘unnecessary’.
All other letters are pronounced as in English.
ō is used to denote a long o in Japanese (as in ‘note’, rather than ‘not’).
For Tibetan words, the full transcription, according to the Wylie system,
is given in brackets on first use, but otherwise, including in the index, a form
that gives a better indication of pronunciation is given, as in Samuel
(1993: 617–34).
xx A Note on Language and Pronunciation
For Chinese, the modern Pinyin system of romanization is used, fol-
lowed, on first use, by the form in the older Wade-Giles system. A few
things to note in Pinyin:
j has no equivalent in English, but is like an unaspirated q.
q has no equivalent in English, but is like cheek, with lips spread wide
with ee, and the tongue curled downwards to touch back of the teeth, and
strong aspiration.
x has no equivalent in English, but is like she, with the lips spread and the
tip of the tongue curled downwards and stuck to the back of the teeth when
saying ee.
zh is like ch as a sound between choke, joke and true.
z is between suds and cats.
c is like ts in cats.
Abbreviations
Note that below:

Th. = a text of Pali Canon or later Theravādin literature
My. = a Mahāyāna text in Sanskrit, Chinese or Tibetan
A. Aṅguttara Nikāya (Th.); (tr. F. L. Woodward and E. M.
Hare) The Book of Gradual Sayings, 5 vols., London, PTS,
1932–6; (tr. Bhikkhu Bodhi) The Numerical Discourses of the
Buddha: A Complete Translation of the Aṅguttara Nikāya,
one vol., Boston, Wisdom, 2012; (tr. Nyanaponika Thera
and Bhikkhu Bodhi) Numerical Discourses of the Buddha,
New York and Oxford, Altamara, 1999: partial translation
in one vol.
A-a. Aṅguttara Nikāya At.t.hakathā (Manorathapūranī) (Th.):
commentary on A. ˙
AKB. Abhidharma-kośa-bhās.ya [of Vasubandhu – mostly
Sarvāstivāda]; (tr. L. M. Pruden, from L. de La Vallée
Poussin’s French translation) Abhidharmakośa-bhās.yam 4
vols., Berkeley, Asian Humanities Press, 1991.
Asl. At..thasālinī (Th.): commentary on the Dhs.; (tr. Pe Maung
Tin) The Expositor, 2 vols. London, PTS, 1920 and 1921.
Asta. As.t.asāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (My.); (tr. E. Conze)
The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines, and
its Verse Summary, Bolinas, Four Seasons Foundation,
1973.
Bca. Bodhicaryāvatāra of Śāntideva (My.); (tr. K. Crosby and
A. Skilton) Śāntideva: The Bodhicaryāvatāra, Oxford and
New York, Oxford University Press.
bce Before the Christian Era.
BM. S. Shaw, Buddhist Meditation: An Anthology from the Pāli
Canon, London and New York, Routledge, 2006.
xxi
xxii List of abbreviations
BP. D. S. Lopez, Jr, ed., Buddhism in Practice [anthology],
Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, 1995, cited
by text number.
BPS Buddhist Publication Society.
BS1. E. Conze, Buddhist Scriptures [anthology], Harmondsworth,
Penguin, 1959.
BS2. D. S. Lopez, Buddhist Scriptures [anthology], London and
New York, Penguin, 2004, cited by text number.
BSR. Buddhist Studies Review.
BT. W. T. de Bary, ed., The Buddhist Tradition in India, China
and Japan [anthology], New York, The Modern Library,
1969; repr. New York, Random House, 1992.
BTTA. E. Conze, ed., Buddhist Texts Through the Ages, Oxford,
Cassirer, 1954; repr. Oxford, One World, 1995, cited by
text number.
Bvms. Buddhavamsa (Th.); (tr. I. B. Horner) in Minor Anthologies,
˙
Vol. iii, London, PTS, 1975. Also includes translation of
Cariyā-pit.aka.
BW. Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of
Discourses from the Pali Canon, Boston, Wisdom, 2005.
c. Circa.
ce Christian Era.
Ch. Chinese.
D. Dīgha Nikāya (Th.); (tr. T. W. and C. A. F. Rhys Davids)
Dialogues of the Buddha, 3 vols., London, PTS, 1899–1921;
(tr. M. Walshe) Long Discourses of the Buddha, 2nd revised
edition, Boston, Wisdom, 1996, one vol.
D-a. Dīgha Nikāya At.t.hakathā (Sumaṅgalavilāsinī) (Th.): com-
mentary on D.
Dhp. Dhammapada (Th.); (tr. K. R. Norman) The Word of
the Doctrine, London, PTS, 1997; (tr. V. Roebuck)
The Dhammapada, London, Penguin, 2010.
Buddharakkhita and T.hānissaro translations on Access to
Insight website.
Dhp-a. Dhammapada At.t.hakathā, commentary on Dhp (Th.); (tr.
E. W. Burlingame) Buddhist Legends, 3 vols., Harvard
Oriental Series, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University
Press, 1921; repr. London, PTS, 1995.
List of abbreviations xxiii
Dhs. Dhamma-saṅganī (Th.); (tr. C. A. F. Rhys Davids) A
Buddhist Manual ˙ of Psychological Ethics, London, PTS,
1900, 3rd edn, 1993.
EB. J. S. Strong, The Experience of Buddhism: Sources and
Interpretations, 2nd edn, Belmont, Calif., Wadsworth,
2002, cited by text number.
f. Founded.
FWBO Friends of the Western Buddhist Order.
It. Itivuttaka (Th.); (tr. P. Masefield) The Itivuttaka, London,
PTS, 2001.
Jap. Japanese.
Jat. Jātaka with Commentary (Th.); (tr. by various hands under
E. B. Cowell) The Jātaka or Stories of the Buddha’s Former
Births, 6 vols., London, PTS, 1895–1907. S. Shaw, The
Jātakas: Birth Stories of the Bodhisatta, New Delhi,
Penguin, 2006, translates 26 of the Jātakas.
JBE Journal of Buddhist Ethics.
JIABS Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies.
Khp. Khuddaka-pāt.ha (Th.); (tr. with its commentary, Bhikkhu
Ñānamoli) Minor Readings and Illustrator, London, PTS,
˙
1960.
Khp-a. Commentary on Khp.: see last item for translation.
Kor. Korean.
Kvu. Kathāvatthu (Th.); (tr. S. Z. Aung and C. A. F. Rhys
Davids) Points of Controversy, London, PTS, 1915.
Kvu-a. Kathāvatthu At.t.hakathā (Pañcappakarana-atthakathā)
(Th.): commentary on Kvu.; (tr. B. C. Law) ˙ The Debates
Commentary, London, PTS, 1940.
Lanka. Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra (My.); (tr. D. T. Suzuki) The
Lankavatara Sutra, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul,
1932; repr. Delhi, MB, 2003.
Lotus Sūtra Saddharma-pundarīka Sūtra (My.); (tr. H. Kern, from
Sanskrit) The ˙Saddharma-pun
˙ darīka or The Lotus of the
True Law, Sacred Books of ˙the ˙ East, Vol. xxi, Oxford,
Clarendon Press, 1884; repr. Delhi, MB, 1968; (tr. B. Kato
et al., from Chinese) The Threefold Lotus Sūtra, New York
and Tokyo, Weatherhill/Kosei, 1975; repr. Tokyo, Kosei
Shuppan-Sha, 1998.
xxiv List of abbreviations
M. Majjhima Nikāya (Th.); (tr. I. B. Horner) Middle Length
Sayings, 3 vols., London, PTS, 1954–9; (tr. Bhikkhu
Ñānamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi) The Middle Length
˙
Discourses of the Buddha, one vol., Boston, Wisdom, 1995.
M-a. Majjhima Nikāya At.t.hakathā (Papaṅcasūdanī) (Th.);
commentary on M.
MB Motilal Banarsidass (publisher).
MBS Mahā Bodhi Society.
Miln. Milindapañha (Th.); (tr. I. B. Horner) Milinda’s Questions,
2 vols., London, PTS, 1963 and 1964.
Mmk. (Mūla-)madhyamaka-kārikā [of Nāgārjuna] (My.); (tr. K. K.
Inada) Nāgārjuna: A Translation of his Mūlamadhyamaka-
kārikā, with an Introductory Essay [and Sanskrit text],
Tokyo, Hokuseido Press, 1970; repr. Delhi, Sri Satguru,
1993; (tr. J. Garfield, from Tibetan) 1995, The Fundamental
Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna’s Mūla-
madhyamakakārikā, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Ms. Mahāyāna-samgraha [of Asaṅga] (My.); (tr. J. P. Keenan)
The Summary˙ of the Great Vehicle, by Bodhisattva Asaṅga,
Berkeley, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and
Research, 1992.
Mv. Madhyānta-vibhāga [of Asaṅga/Maitreya] (My.); (tr.
S. Anacker) in his Seven Works of Vasubandhu, Delhi,
MB, 1984; (tr. T. A. Kochumuttom) Chapter 1 is translated
in his Buddhist Doctrine of Experience, Delhi, MB, 1982.
Mvkb. Madhyānta-vibhāga-kārikā-bhās.ya [of Vasubandhu]
(My.); (tr. S. Anacker) in his Seven Works of Vasubandhu,
Delhi, MB, 1984; (tr. T. A. Kochumuttom) Chapter 1 is
translated in his Buddhist Doctrine of Experience, Delhi,
MB, 1982.
Mvm. Mahāvamsa (Th.); (tr. W. Geiger) The Mahāvamsa or
˙
Great Chronicle of Ceylon, London, PTS, 1964. ˙
Mvs. Mahāvastu [of the Lokottaravāda school]; (tr. J. J. Jones)
The Mahāvastu, Translated from the Buddhist Sanskrit, 3
vols., London, PTS, 1949–56.
MW. R. Bucknell and C. Kang, eds., The Meditative Way:
Readings in the Theory and Practice of Buddhist
Meditation, Richmond, Surrey, Curzon Press, 1997.
n.d. No date.
List of abbreviations xxv
Ndk. Nidānakathā (Th.); (tr. N. A. Jayawickrama) The Story of
the Buddha (Jātaka-nidāna), Oxford, PTS, 2002.
Panca. Pañcavimśati-sāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (My.); (tr.
E. Conze)˙ The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom, London,
Luzac & Co., 1961–4; repr. Delhi, MB, 1979, and Berkeley,
Calif., University of California Press, 1985.
Patis. Pat.isambhidāmagga (Th.); (tr. Bhikkhu Ñānamoli) The
Path of Discrimination, London, PTS, 1982. ˙
Plat. The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (My.) (tr. from
Chinese by P. B. Yampolsky), New York, Columbia
University Press, 1967.
pron. Pronounced.
PTS Pali Text Society.
Pv. Petavatthu (Th.); (tr. H. S. Gehman) ‘Stories of the
Departed’, in The Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon
Part iv , I. B. Horner and H. S. Gehman, London, PTS,
1974.
repr. Reprint.
Rv. Ratnagotra-vibhāga [of Asaṅga/Maitreya, or Sthiramati/
Sāramati] (My.); (tr. from Sanskrit by J. Takasaki) A
Study of the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra): Being a
Treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha Theory of Mahāyāna
Buddhism, Rome, Series Orientales Rome xxiii, 1966;
(tr. from Tibetan by J. Kongtrul and K. T. Gyamtso)
Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttara Shastra with
Commentary, Ithaca, N.Y., Snow Lion, 2000.
S. Samyutta Nikāya (Th.); (tr. Bhikkhu Bodhi) The
˙
Connected Discourses of the Buddha, one vol., Boston,
Wisdom, 2005.
S-a. Samyutta Nikāya At.t.hakathā (Sāratthappakāsinī) (Th.);
˙
commentary on S.
SB. R. Gethin, Sayings of the Buddha: A Selection of Suttas from
the Pali Nikāyas, Oxford and New York, Oxford University
Press, 2008.
Skt Sanskrit.
Sn. Sutta-nipāta (Th.); (tr. K. R. Norman) The Group of
Discourses, in paperback The Rhinoceros Horn and
Other Early Buddhist Poems, London, PTS, 1984; (tr.
K. R. Norman) The Group of Discourses, Vol. ii, London,
PTS, 1992 revised translation with introduction and notes.
xxvi List of abbreviations
Sn-a. Sutta-nipāta At.t.hakathā (Paramatthajotikā ii) (Th.); com-
mentary on Sn.
Srim. Śrīmālā-devī Simhanāda Sūtra (My.); (tr. A. & H.
Wayman) The Lion’s˙ Roar of Queen Śrīmālā, New York
and London, Columbia University Press, 1974; repr. Delhi,
MB, 1989.
Ss. Śiks.ā-samuccaya [of Śāntideva] (My.); (tr. C. Bendall and
W. H. D. Rouse) Śiks.ā-samuccaya: A Compendium of
Buddhist Doctrine Compiled by Śāntideva Chiefly from the
Early Mahāyāna Sūtras, London, 1922; repr. Delhi, MB,
1971.
Svb. Suvarna-bhāsottama Sūtra (My.); (tr. R. E. Emmerick) The
Sūtra˙ of Golden Light, London, Luzac and Co., 1970;
references to text, not translation pagination.
Thag. Thera-gāthā (Th.); (tr. K. R. Norman) Elders’ Verses, Vol. i,
London, PTS, 1969.
Thig. Therī-gāthā (Th.); (tr. K. R. Norman) Elders’ Verses, Vol. ii,
London, PTS, 1971.
Tib. Tibetan.
Trims. Trimśatikā-kārikā (or Trimśikā) [of Vasubandhu] (My.);
see ˙under Mv. for translations.
˙
Tsn. Trisvabhāva-nirdeśa [of Vasubandhu] (My.); see under Mv.
for translations.
Ud. Udāna (Th.); (tr. P. Masefield) The Udāna, London, PTS,
1994.
Vc. Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (My.); (tr. and
explained by E. Conze) in Buddhist Wisdom Books: The
Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra, London, George Allen
and Unwin, 1958; repr. as Buddhist Wisdom, New York,
Vintage, 2001; Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā, 2nd edn,
Rome, Istituto Italiano per il Medio de Estremo Oriente,
1974.
Vibh. Vibhaṅga (Th.); (tr. U. Thittila) The Book of Analysis,
London, PTS, 1969.
Vibh-a. Commentary on Vibh. (Th.); (tr. Ñānamoli) Dispeller of
Delusion, 2 vols., London, PTS, 1988 and˙ 1989.
Vigv. Vigraha-vyāvartanī [of Nāgārjuna] (My.); (tr. J.
Westerhoff) The Dispeller of Disputes, Oxford, Oxford
University Press, 2010.
List of abbreviations xxvii
Vims. Vimśatikā-kārikā [of Vasubandhu] (My.); see under Mv.
for˙ translations.
Vin. Vinaya Pit.aka (Th.); (tr. I. B. Horner) The Book of the
Discipline, 6 vols., London, PTS, 1938–66.
Vism. Visuddhimagga [of Buddhaghosa] (Th.); (tr. Bhikkhu
Ñānamoli), The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga,
˙
Onalaska, Wash., BPS Pariyatti, 1999.
Vrtti. Vimśatikā-vr.tti [of Vasubandhu] (My.); see under Mv. for
˙
translations.
Vv. Vimāna-vatthu (Th.); (tr. I. B. Horner) ‘Stories of the
Mansions’, in The Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon
Part iv , I. B. Horner and H. S. Gehman, London, PTS,
1974.
Vv-a. Vimāna-vatthu At.t.hakathā (Paramatthadīpanī iii ) (Th.);
commentary on Vv.
Most of these works are still in print; reprints have only been mentioned
where the publisher differs from the original one. Translations published
by the PTS are from the editions of the text published by them. Other
translations are from various editions. Translations given in this book are
not necessarily the same as those in the cited translations, particularly in the
case of translations from Pali. For a detailed listing of Buddhist texts and
their translations, see Williams and Tribe (2000: 277–300).
Reference is generally to volume and page number of the text in Pali; but
for Dhp., Sn., Thag. and Thig., it is to verse number, and Mahāyāna works
other than Sūtras are referred to by chapter and verse number. For Kvu.,
reference is either to the page number or the number of the ‘book’ and the
discussion point within it. Dhs., Plat. and Vc. are referred to by section (sec.)
number in text.
The page numbers of the relevant edition of an original text are generally
given in brackets in its translation, or at the top of the page. In translations
of the Pali Canon, the volume number of the translation generally corre-
sponds to the volume of the PTS edition of the texts, except that Middle
Length Sayings i translates only the first 338 pages of M. i, the rest being part
of Middle Length Sayings ii. Also, Vin. iii and iv are translated respectively
as Book of the Discipline, Vols. i plus ii (pp. 1–163), and ii (pp. 164–416) plus
iii, with Vin. i and ii as Book of the Discipline, Vols. iv and v, and Vin. v is
Book of the Discipline vi. Moreover, in Book of the Discipline i–v, the
xxviii List of abbreviations
number indicating the Pali page number shows where the relevant page
ends, rather than begins, as is usual in other translations.
Note that a very useful source for translations of many Pali texts is Access
to Insight: www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka. It references texts by Sutta
number, or section and Sutta number, but also gives, in brackets, the
volume and page number of the start of the relevant text in Pali (PTS
edition).
Introduction
The history of Buddhism spans almost 2,500 years from its origin in India
with Siddhattha Gotama (Pali, Skt Siddhārtha Gautama), through its
spread to most parts of Asia and, in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries,
to the West. Richard Gombrich holds that the Buddha was ‘one of the most
brilliant and original thinkers of all time’ (2009: vii), whose ‘ideas should
form part of the education of every child, the world over’, which ‘would
make the world a more civilized place, both gentler and more intelligent’
(Gombrich, 2009: 1), and with Buddhism, at least in numerical terms, as
‘the greatest movement in the entire history of human ideas’ (Gombrich,
2009: 194). While its fortunes have waxed and waned over the ages, over half
of the present world population live in areas where it is, or has been, a
dominant cultural force.
The English term ‘Buddhism’ correctly indicates that the religion is
characterized by a devotion to ‘the Buddha’, ‘Buddhas’ or ‘buddha-hood’.
‘Buddha’ is not a proper name, but a descriptive title meaning ‘Awakened
One’ or ‘Enlightened One’. This implies that most people are seen, in a
spiritual sense, as being asleep – unaware of how things really are. As ‘Buddha’
is a title, it should not be used as a name, as in, for example, ‘Buddha taught
that . . .’. In many contexts, ‘the Buddha’ is specific enough, meaning the
Buddha known to history, Gotama. From its earliest times, though, the
Buddhist tradition has postulated other Buddhas who have lived on earth
in distant past ages, or who will do so in the future. The later tradition also
postulated the existence of many Buddhas currently existing in other parts
of the universe. All such Buddhas, known as sammā-sambuddhas (Skt
samyak-sambuddhas), or ‘perfect fully Awakened Ones’, are nevertheless
seen as occurring only rarely within the vast and ancient cosmos. More
common are those who are ‘buddhas’ in a lesser sense, who have awakened
to the nature of reality by practising in accordance with the guidance of a
perfect Buddha such as Gotama. The Tibetan tradition also recognizes certain
humans as manifestations on earth of Buddhas of other world-systems.
1
2 Introduction
As ‘Buddha’ does not refer to a unique individual, Buddhism is less
focused on the person of its founder than is, for example, Christianity. The
emphasis in Buddhism is on the teachings of the Buddha(s), and the
‘awakening’ of human personality that these are seen to lead to.
Nevertheless, Buddhists do show great reverence to Gotama as a supreme
teacher and an exemplar of the ultimate goal that all strive for, so that
probably more images of him exist than of any other historical figure.
In its long history, Buddhism has used a variety of teachings and means to
help people first develop a calmer, more integrated and compassionate
personality, and then ‘wake up’ from restricting delusions: delusions
which cause attachment and thus suffering for an individual and those he
or she interacts with. The guide for this process of transformation has been
the ‘Dhamma’ (Skt Dharma): the patterns of reality and cosmic law-
orderliness discovered by the Buddha(s), Buddhist teachings, the
Buddhist path of practice, and the goal of Buddhism, the timeless
Nirvāna (Pali Nibbāna). Buddhism thus essentially consists of understand-
˙
ing, practising and realizing Dhamma.
The most important bearers of the Buddhist tradition have been the
monks and nuns who make up the Buddhist Saṅgha or ‘Community’. From
approximately a hundred years after the death of Gotama, certain differ-
ences arose in the Saṅgha, which gradually led to the development of a
number of monastic fraternities (nikāyas), each following a slightly different
monastic code, and to different schools of thought (vādas). All branches of
the Saṅgha trace their ordination-line back to one or other of the early
fraternities; but of the early schools of thought, only that which became
known as the Theravāda has continued to this day. Its name indicates that it
purports to follow the ‘teaching’ of the ‘Elders’ (Pali Thera, Skt Sthavira) of
the first schism (see p. 90). While it has not remained static, it has kept close
to what we know of the early teachings of Buddhism, and preserved their
emphasis on attaining liberation by one’s own efforts, using the Dhamma as
guide. Around the beginning of the Christian era, a movement began which
led to a new style of Buddhism known as the Mahāyāna, or ‘Great Vehicle’.
This has been more overtly innovative, so that for many centuries, Indian
Mahāyānists continued to compose new scriptures. The Mahāyāna is
characterized by a more overt emphasis on compassion, devotion to a
number of holy saviour beings, and several sophisticated philosophies,
developed by extending the implications of the earlier teachings. In the
course of time, in India and beyond, the Mahāyāna produced many schools
of its own, such as Zen. One group of these which developed by the
sixth century in India, and is sometimes seen as separate from the
Introduction 3
Mahāyāna, is known as the Mantranaya, or the ‘Path of Mantras’. It is
mostly the same as the Mahāyāna in its doctrines, but developed a range of
powerful new practices to attain the goals of the Mahāyāna, such as the
meditative repetitions of sacred words of power (mantras) and complex
visualization practices. It is based on tantras or complex systems of ritual,
symbolism and meditation, and its form from the late seventh century is
known as the Vajrayāna, or ‘Vehicle of the Thunderbolt’.
Our knowledge of the teachings of the Buddha is based on several
canons of scripture, which derive from the early Saṅgha’s oral transmission
of bodies of teachings agreed on at several councils. The Theravādin ‘Pali
Canon’ is preserved in the Pali language, which is based upon a dialect
close to that spoken by the Buddha, Old Māgadhī. It is the most complete
extant early canon, and contains some of the earliest material. Most of its
teachings are in fact the common property of all Buddhist schools, being
simply the teachings which the Theravādins preserved from the early
common stock. While parts of the Pali Canon clearly originated after
the time of the Buddha, much must derive from his teachings. There is an
overall harmony to the Canon, suggesting ‘authorship’ of its system of
thought by one mind. Given that the Buddha taught for forty-five years,
some signs of development in teachings may simply reflect changes during
this period. Some promising attempts at relative dating rely on criteria of
style, and comparisons of related texts in different canons are now pro-
ducing good results. These canons gradually diverged as different floating
oral traditions were drawn on, and systematizing texts peculiar to each
school were added. Many of the minor differences within and between
canons, however, can be seen to be due to the way in which oral traditions
always produce several different permutations of essentially the same story
or teachings.
The early canons contain a section on Vinaya, or monastic discipline, one
on Suttas (Skt Sūtras), or ‘discourses’ of the Buddha, and some contain one
on Abhidhamma (Skt Abhidharma), or ‘further teachings’, which system-
atizes the Sutta-teachings in the form of detailed analyses of human expe-
rience. The main teachings of Buddhism are contained in the Suttas, which
in the Pali Canon are divided into five Nikāyas or ‘Collections’, the first four
(sixteen volumes) generally being the older. In other early canons, the five
divisions paralleling the Nikāyas are called Āgamas. The Pali Canon was one
of the earliest to be written down, this being in Sri Lanka in around 20 bce,
after which little, if any, new material was added to it. There are also sections
of six non-Theravādin early canons preserved in Chinese and Tibetan
translations, fragments of a Sanskrit Canon still existing in Nepal, and
4 Introduction
odd texts in various languages of India and Central Asia found in Tibet,
Central Asia and Japan.
The extensive non-canonical Pali literature includes additional
Abhidhamma works, historical chronicles, and many volumes of commen-
taries. An extremely clear introduction to many points of Buddhist doctrine is
the Milindapañha (‘Milinda’s Questions’), which purports to record conver-
sations between a Buddhist monk and Milinda (Menander; c. 155–130 bce), a
king of Greek ancestry. Another is the Visuddhimagga (‘Path of Purification’),
a very influential Theravāda compendium of meditation practices and doc-
trine, written by Buddhaghosa (fifth century ce).
Mahāyāna texts were composed from around the first century bce,
originating as written, not oral, works. In time, they were recorded in a
form of the Indian prestige language, Sanskrit. While many are attributed to
the Buddha, their form and content clearly show that they were later re-
statements and extensions of the Buddha’s message. The main sources for
our understanding of Mahāyāna teachings are the very extensive Chinese
and Tibetan Buddhist Canons. While most of the Pali Canon has been
translated into English, only selected texts from these have been translated
into Western languages, though much progress is being made. For some
details on the three main extant Canons, see Appendix I.
While Buddhism is now only a minority religion within the borders of
modern India, its spread beyond India means that it is currently found in
three main cultural areas. These are those of: ‘Southern Buddhism’, where
the Theravāda school is found, along with some elements incorporated
from the Mahāyāna; ‘Eastern Buddhism’, where the Chinese transmission
of Mahāyāna Buddhism is found; and the area of Tibetan culture,
‘Northern Buddhism’, which is the heir of late Indian Buddhism, where
the Mantranaya/Vajrayāna version of the Mahāyāna is the dominant form.
One can see these as like the three main branches of the ‘tree’ of Buddhism,
though as all parts of a tree are genetically identical, this underplays the
differences that have developed within Buddhism over time. Yet one can
trace a series of transformations linking early and later forms in a causal
continuum; just as Buddhism says that a person in one life and the next
rebirth is ‘neither (unchangingly) the same nor (completely) different’, this
can be said of the various forms of Buddhism that have evolved. A better
image than branches of a tree is branches of a large ‘family’. There are
‘family resemblances’ across all three branches, though certain features and
forms are more typical of, and sometimes unique to, one of the three
branches. The fifth edition (2005) of the Robinson and Johnson book
The Buddhist Religion was retitled Buddhist Religions, to emphasize how
Introduction 5
the three main cultural forms of Buddhism are in a sense different ‘worlds’.
Yet this downplays the continuities and the many connections in the vast
network of Buddhism.
Buddhism’s concentration on the essentials of spiritual development has
meant that it has been able to co-exist both with other major religions and
with popular folk traditions which catered for people’s desire for a variety of
rituals. There has hardly ever been a ‘wholly Buddhist’ society, if this means
a kind of religious one-party state. Buddhism has been very good at adapt-
ing to different cultures while guarding its own somewhat fluid borders by a
critical tolerance of other traditions. Its style has been to offer invitations to
several levels of spiritual practice for those who have been ready to commit
themselves. In Southern Buddhist lands, worship of pre-Buddhist nature
gods has continued, while, especially in Sri Lanka, Buddhists also worship
gods whose cults are Indian in origin. Most Buddhists would not see this as
a betrayal of Buddhism, but just an attempt to interact with minor powers
of the cosmos for some worldly advantage: like a person asking a member of
parliament to try and help him. In Northern Buddhism, a similar relation-
ship exists with the indigenous Bön religion of Tibet. In China, Taiwan,
Korea and Vietnam, Buddhism has co-existed with Confucianism – more a
system of social philosophy than a religion, the Daoist religion and much
folk religion. People would often partake of elements of all these traditions.
In Japan, Buddhism has existed alongside the indigenous nature-orientated
religion of Shintō, and the Confucianism that it brought with it from
China. Traditionally, people would be married by Shintō rites and buried
with Buddhist ones. In China (which now includes Tibet), North Korea,
Vietnam and Laos, Buddhism exists under Communist governments.
Chinese Communists persecuted Buddhism and vandalized its temples
during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), but the government has since
been easing up on it, so as to allow a gentle resurgence in China proper, and
a continuation of the very strong Buddhist culture of Tibet. The religion
remains oppressed in North Korea, but is reasonably strong in Laos and
Vietnam. In Mongolia, regions of the Russian Federation, and Cambodia,
Buddhism is strengthening after previous Communist periods.
The number of Buddhists in the world is as follows (see Chapter 12 for
detailed breakdowns): Southern Buddhism, 150 million; Northern Buddhism
18.2 million; Eastern Buddhism, approximately 360 million. There are also
around 7 million Buddhists outside Asia (see Chapter 13). This gives an
overall total of around 535 million Buddhists in the world – 7.8 per cent of
the total 2010 world population of 6,852 million – though in East Asia, there
are at least another 200 million who relate to Buddhism to a fair extent.
6 Introduction
TUVA
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SRI LANKA
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Map 1: Current location of Buddhism in Asia.

Introduction 7
BURYAT
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CAMBODIA Southern Buddhism
Northern Buddhism
Eastern Buddhism
Pockets of Islam
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chapter 1
The Buddha and his Indian Context
Indian culture has not been as concerned with recording precise dates as
have Chinese or Graeco-Roman cultures, so datings cannot always be
arrived at with accuracy. All sources agree that Gotama was eighty when
he died (e.g. D.ii.100), and the Pali sources of Theravāda Buddhism say that
this was ‘218’ years before the inauguration of the reign of the Buddhist
emperor Asoka (Skt Aśoka): the ‘long chronology’. Sanskrit sources pre-
served in East Asia have a ‘short chronology’, with his death ‘100’ years or so
before Asoka’s inauguration. Based on a traditional date of the inaugura-
tion, Pali sources see Gotama’s dates as 623–543 bce. However, references
in Asokan edicts to named Hellenistic kings have meant that modern
scholars have put the inauguration at c. 268 bce (giving c. 566–486 bce
for Gotama) or, more recently, anywhere between 267 and 280 bce.
Richard Gombrich1 has argued that ‘218’ and ‘100’ are best seen as approx-
imate numbers, and sees 136 as more likely, based on figures associated with
a lineage of Buddhist teachers in the Dīpavamsa, a chronicle of Sri Lanka –
˙
with the ‘218’ in this text (6.1) as from its misunderstanding of figures in its
earlier part. With various margins of error, Gombrich sees Gotama’s death
as between 422 and 399 bce, with c. 404 as most likely, giving his dates
as c. 484–404 bce.
background to the life of the buddha2
Brahmanism
The Buddha taught in the region of the Ganges basin in north-east India,
where the dominant religion was Brahmanism, administered by priests
1
1991–1992 and 2000, cf. Cousins, 1996c, Harvey, 2007d: 105b–107a.
2
For early Indian religion, see: Basham, 2005: 234–58, 289–300; Flood, 1996: 30–102; and Olivelle,
1996.
8
The Buddha and his Indian Context 9
known as Brahmins (Brāhmanas). Later, around 200 bce, this tradition
˙
began to develop into the religion now known as Hinduism. Brahmanism
had entered the north-west of the Indian sub-continent from around 1500
bce, brought by a nomadic people who seem to have come from an area
now in eastern Turkey, southern Russia and northern Iran. In this area,
people spoke a postulated Aryan (Skt Ārya) language – the basis of a number
of ‘Indo-European’ languages spread by migration from there to India, Iran,
Greece, Italy and other parts of Western Europe. The form of the language
spoken in India was Sanskrit (from which Pali is derived), which is thus
linked, through Greek and Latin, to modern European languages. The
influx of the Aryans seems to have overlapped with the decline of the
Indus Valley Civilization, a sophisticated city-based culture which had
existed in the region of Pakistan since around 2500 bce. The religion of
the Aryans was based on the Veda, a body of ‘revealed’ oral teachings and
hymns: the R. g Veda Samhitā (c. 1500–1200 bce), three other Veda
˙
Samhitās, and later compositions known as Brāhmanas and Upanis.ads.
The˙ Aryans worshipped ‘thirty-three’ mostly male gods ˙ known as devas,
or ‘illustrious ones’: anthropomorphized principles seen as active in nature,
the cosmos and human life. The central rite of the religion was one in which
the priests sang the praises of a particular deva and offered him sacrifices by
placing them in a sacrificial fire. In return, they hoped for such boons as
health, increase in cattle, and immortality in the afterlife with the devas. In
the Brāhmanas (c. 1000–800 bce), animal sacrifices came to be added to the
˙
earlier offerings, such as grain and milk. The enunciation of the sacred
sacrificial verses, known as mantras, was also seen as manipulating a sacred
power called Brahman, so that the ritual was regarded as actually coercing
the devas into sustaining the order of the cosmos and giving what was
wanted. The great responsibility of the priests in this regard was reflected in
them placing themselves at the head of what was regarded as a divinely
ordained hierarchy of four social classes, the others being those of the
Ks.atriyas (Pali Khattiyas) or warrior-leaders of society in peace or war, the
Vaiśyas (Pali Vessas), or cattle-rearers and cultivators, and the Śūdras (Pali
Suddas), or servants. A person’s membership of one of these four varnas, or
‘complexions’ of humanity, was seen as determined by birth; in ˙ later
Hinduism the system incorporated thousands of lesser social groupings
and became known as the jāti, or caste, system. Members of the top three
varnas were seen as āryans, or ‘noble ones’, and seen as socially superior due
˙ claimed purity of their descent.
to the
Brahmins learnt of yogic techniques of meditation, physical isolation,
fasting, celibacy and asceticism from ascetics whose traditions may have
10 An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices
gone back to the Indus Valley Civilization. Such techniques were found to
be useful as spiritual preparations for performing the sacrifice. Some
Brahmins then retired to the forest and used them as a way of actually
carrying out the sacrifice in an internalized, visualized form. The Upanis.ads
were composed out of the teachings of the more orthodox of these forest
dwellers. Of these, the pre-Buddhist ones are the Br.hadāranyaka and
Chāndogya (seventh to sixth centuries bce) and probably the˙Taittirīya,
Aitareya and Kaus.ītaki (sixth to fifth centuries bce). In these, Brahman is
seen as the substance underlying the whole cosmos, and as identical with the
Ātman, the universal Self which the yogic element of the Indian tradition
had sought deep within the mind. By true knowledge of this identity, it was
held that a person could attain liberation from reincarnation after death,
and merge back into Brahman. The idea of reincarnation seems to have
developed as an extension of the idea, found in the Brāhmanas, that the
power of a person’s sacrificial action might be insufficient to ˙ lead to an
afterlife that did not end in another death. The Upanis.ads, perhaps due to
some non-Aryan influence, saw such a death as being followed by reincar-
nation as a human or animal. Non-Aryan influence was probably more
certain in developing the idea that it was the quality of a person’s karma, or
‘action’, that determined the nature of their reincarnation in an insecure
earthly form; previously, ‘karma’ had only referred to sacrificial action.
Nevertheless, Brahmanism continued to see karma in largely ritual terms,
and actions were judged relative to a person’s varna, their station in society.
Gombrich argues that the Buddha’s central teachings˙ came in response to
those of the early Upanis.ads, notably the Br.hadāranyaka, especially its ideas
on Ātman (1996: 31). Moreover, in Buddhism the ˙ ethical quality of the
impulse behind an action was the key to its being good or bad, rather than
its conformity with ritual norms (2006: 67–70; 2009: 19–44).
A key term of Brahmanical thought was Dharma, seen as the divinely
ordained order of the universe and human society, as seen in the specific
duties (dharmas) assigned to each varna. Dharma includes both how things
˙ should be (cf. a legal ‘law’); it is the
are (cf. a ‘law’ of physics) and how they
existent ideal standard (cf. the standard metre rule in Paris). In Buddhism,
Dharma (Pali Dhamma) is also a central term. Here, the emphasis is not on
fixed social duties, but primarily on the nature of reality, practices aiding
understanding of this and practices informed by an understanding of this,
all aiding a person to live a happier life and to move closer to liberation.
Interest in the Dharma of things, their basic pattern or order, is also seen in
the early Indian concern with enumerating the various elements of a person
and the cosmos. In Buddhism, one sees this in various analytical lists, such
as the six elements (earth, water, fire, wind, space and consciousness), or five
rebirth realms.
At the time of the Buddha, most Brahmins aimed at attaining the heaven
of the creator god Brahmā (also known as Prajāpati) by means of truthful-
ness, study of the Vedic teachings, and either sacrifice or austerities. Some
were saintly, but others seem to have been haughty and wealthy, supporting
themselves by putting on large, expensive and bloody sacrifices, often paid
for by kings. At its popular level, Brahmanism incorporated practices based
on protective magic spells, and pre-Brahmanical spirit-worship no doubt
continued.
The Samanas
˙
The time of the Buddha was one of changing social conditions, where the
traditions of small kin-based communities were being undermined as these
were swallowed up by expanding kingdoms, such as those of Magadha and
Kosala (Gombrich, 2006: 49–60). A number of cities had developed which
were the centres of administration and of developing organized trade, based
on a money economy. The ideas expressed in the Upanis.ads were starting to
filter out into the wider intellectual community and were being hotly
debated, both by Brahmins and by Samanas (Skt Śramanas), wandering
‘renunciant’ thinkers who were somewhat ˙akin to the early˙ Greek philoso-
phers and mystics. The Samanas rejected the Vedic tradition and wandered
˙
free of family ties, living by alms, in order to think, debate and investigate.
Many came from the new urban centres, where old certainties were being
questioned, and increasing disease from population-concentration may
have posed the universal problem of human suffering in a relatively stark
form. They therefore sought to find a basis of true and lasting happiness
beyond change and insecurity.
In its origin, Buddhism was a Samana-movement. Its description and
assessment of the other Samana groups ˙are contained in the Sāmaññaphala
Sutta (D.i.47–86 (SB.5–36)).˙One of the major Samana groups comprised
the Jains. Jainism was founded, or at least led in the ˙ Buddha’s day, by
Vardhamāna the Mahāvīra, or ‘Great Hero’. It teaches that all things, even
stones, are alive, each containing a Jīva, or ‘Life-principle’. These are seen as
individually distinct, rather like the Western idea of a ‘soul’ but unlike the
universal Ātman of the Upanis.ads, and to be naturally bright, omniscient
and blissful. The aim of Jainism is to liberate one’s Jīva from the round of
rebirths by freeing it from being weighed down by an encrustation of
karma, seen as a kind of subtle matter. The methods of doing so are
H I M A L AYA S
Kapilavatthu Lumbini
( N E PA L )
SAKKA Calcutta
Savatthi
KO S A L A INDIA
Kusinara
Vesali
SRI LANKA
Pataliputta
(Patna)
Isipatana
(Sarnath)
Benares Nalanda
MAGADHA
Rajagaha
Uruvela
Bodh-Gaya
Ga
ge
n
s
Land over 1000 metres
0 200 km
0 100 miles (Calcutta)
Map 2: The region where the Buddha lived and taught.

primarily austerities such as fasting, going unwashed and pulling out the
hair, so as to wear out the results of previous karma, and self-restraint, total
non-violence to any form of life, and vegetarianism, so as to avoid the
generation of new karma. The free-will of the Jīva is emphasized, though
even actions such as unintentionally killing an insect are held to generate
karma. While the Buddha agreed with the Jains on such matters as rebirth
and non-violence, he saw their theory of karma as somewhat mechanical
and inflexible, and opposed their asceticism as too extreme.3
A group of Samanas that rivalled the Buddhists and Jains in their early
centuries was that ˙of the Ājīvikas (Basham, 1981). Their founder was
Makkhali Gosāla (Skt Maskarin Gośāla), but according to the Pali tradition
they also drew on ideas from Pūrana Kassapa (Skt Purna Kāśyapa) and
˙
Pakuddha Kaccāyana (Skt Kakuda Kātyāyana). ˙ doctrine was
Gosāla’s key
that niyati, or impersonal ‘destiny’, governed all, such that humans had no
ability to affect their future lives by their karma: actions were not freely
done, but were determined by niyati. Gosāla thus believed in rebirth, but not
in the principle of karma as that which regulates the level of a person’s rebirth.
The ‘Life-principles’ of living beings are driven by niyati alone through a fixed
progression of types of rebirths, from a low form of animal to an advanced
human who becomes an Ājīvika ascetic. The Ājīvikas practised rigorous
asceticism such as fasting, nakedness and perhaps also disfiguring initiations,
and aimed to die by self-starvation (as Vardhamāna in fact did), as a fitting
way to end their last rebirth. Both Vardhamāna, who had originally been on
good terms with Gosāla, and the Buddha criticized Ājīvika fatalism as a
pernicious denial of human potential and responsibility.
Two other small groups of Samanas were the Materialists and the
Skeptics. According to the Pali tradition,˙ in the Buddha’s day their main
spokesmen were, respectively, Ajita Kesa-Kambalī (Skt Ajita Keśa-
kambalin) and Sañjaya Belat.t.haputta (Skt Sañjayī Vairat.iputra). The
Materialists’ aim was to lead an abstemious, balanced life which enjoyed
simple pleasures and the satisfaction of human relationships. They denied
any kind of self other than one which could be directly perceived, and held
that this was annihilated at death. They therefore denied the idea of rebirth,
and also those of karma and niyati. Each act was seen as a spontaneous event
without karmic effects, and spiritual progression was not seen as possible.
The Buddha characterized the Materialists’ theory as the extreme view of
‘annihilationism’, and saw most other views of the day as some form of the
opposite extreme, ‘eternalism’, which says that what survives death is some
3
Gombrich, 2009: 45–60 discusses Jain antecedents to some Buddhist ideas.
eternal Self or Life-principle. The Skeptics responded to the welter of
conflicting theories on religious and philosophical issues, and the conse-
quent arguments, by avoiding commitment to any point of view, so as to
preserve peace of mind. They held that knowledge on such matters was
impossible, and would not even commit themselves to saying that other
people’s views were wrong. The Buddha saw this evasive stance as ‘eel-
wriggling’, though he shared the wish to step aside from the ‘jungle’ of
conflicting views, and avoid dogmatic assertions built on flimsy grounds.
This common emphasis is perhaps reflected in the fact that the Buddha’s
two chief disciples, Sāriputta (Skt Śāriputra) and Moggallāna (Skt
Maudgalyāyana), were originally Skeptics. The Buddha also shared the
Materialists’ emphasis on experience as the source of knowledge, and thus
shared a critical evaluation of current beliefs on rebirth, karma and Self. He
saw the Materialists and Skeptics as going too far, however, in denying or
doubting the principles of karma and rebirth, which he held were shown to
be true by (meditative) experience (M.i.402). Buddhism, then, did not
uncritically absorb belief in karma and rebirth from existing Indian culture,
as is sometimes held. These ideas were very much up for debate at the time.
the life of the buddha4

We know that Gotama was born in the small republic of the Sakka (Skt
Śākya) people, which straddles the present border with Nepal and had
Kapilavatthu (Skt Kapilavastu) as its capital. From his birth among these
people, Gotama is known in Mahāyāna tradition as Śākya-muni, ‘the
Śākyan sage’. The republic was not Brahmanized, and rule was by a council
of household-heads, perhaps qualified by age or social standing. Gotama
was born to one of these rulers, so that he described himself as a Ks.atriya
when talking to Brahmins, and later tradition saw him as the son of a king.
In the early Buddhist texts, there is no continuous life of the Buddha, as
these concentrated on his teachings. Only later, between 200 bce and 200
ce, did a growing interest in the Buddha’s person lead to various schools
producing continuous ‘biographies’, which drew on scattered accounts in
the existing Sutta and Vinaya collections, and floating oral traditions. These
‘biographies’ include the Lokattaravādin Mahāvastu (Mvs.; first century
ce), the Mahāyānized Sarvāstivādin Lalitavistara (Bays, 1983; from the
first century ce), Aśvaghos.a’s poem, the Buddhacarita (Johnston, 1972,
(BS1.34–66); second century ce), and the Theravādin Nidānakathā
4
On this, see: Ñānamoli, 2003; Ray, 1994: 44–78; Strong, 2001; Thomas, 1949.
˙
(Ndk.; second or third century ce). The details of these are in general
agreement, but while they must clearly be based around historical facts, they
also contain legendary and mythological embellishments, and it is often not
possible to sort out one from the other. While the bare historical basis of the
traditional biography will never be known, as it stands it gives a great insight
into Buddhism by enabling us to see what the meaning of the Buddha’s life
is to Buddhists: what lessons it is held to contain.
The traditional biography does not begin with Gotama’s birth, but with
what went before it, in his many lives as a Bodhisatta, a being (Pali satta) who
is dedicated to attaining bodhi: ‘enlightenment’, ‘awakening’, buddhahood.
At bodhi, there arises ‘vision, knowledge, wisdom, true knowledge, and
light’ (S.v.422) and ‘bodhi’ is related to ‘bujjhati’, ‘understands’, in the sense
of ‘rising from the slumber of the continuum of the (moral and spiritual)
defilements’ (Asl.217). As an ‘awakening’, bodhi is not the awakening of
something, that is, a beginning of something, but a final awakening from
delusion etc. ‘Bodhi-satta’ was originally equivalent to Sanskrit ‘bodhi-sakta’,
meaning ‘one bound for/seeking/directed towards awakening’, though in
time it came to be Sanskritized as ‘Bodhi-sattva’, a ‘being (for) awakening’.
It is held that a ‘hundred thousand eons and four incalculable periods ago’,
in one of his past lives, Gotama was an ascetic named Sumedha (or Megha)
who met and was inspired by a previous Buddha, Dīpaṅkara (Skt
Dīpamkara).5 He therefore resolved to strive for Buddhahood, by becoming
˙
a Bodhisatta. Sumedha knew that, while he could become an enlightened
disciple of Dīpaṅkara, an Arahat, the path he had chosen instead would take
many lives to complete. It would, however, culminate in his becoming a
perfect Buddha, one who would bring benefit to countless beings by redis-
covering and teaching the timeless truths of Dhamma in a period when they
had been forgotten by the human race (Bvms.2A.56). He then spent many
lives, as a human, animal and god, building up the moral and spiritual
perfections necessary for Buddhahood. These lives are described in what are
known as Jātaka stories ( Jat., e.g. BS1.24–30). Over the eons, he also met other
past Buddhas (Collins, 2010: 126–71; Harvey, 2007d: 161a–165a); the Dīgha
Nikāya names six (D.ii.2–9), and the Buddhavamsa, twenty-three. In his
penultimate life he was born in the Tusita (Skt Tus ˙ ita) heaven, the realm of
.
the ‘delighted’ gods. This is said to be the realm where the Bodhisatta Metteyya
(Skt Maitreya) now lives, ready for a future period in human history when
Buddhism will have become extinct, and he can become the next Buddha.6
5
Bvms. ch. 2; Ndk.1–19 (BTTA.72); Mvs. i.231–9 (BS1.19–24); Divyāvadāna 246–53 (EB.1.4.1).
6
D.iii.76; BTTA.22; BS1.238–42; BS2.12; EB.1.9.
It is said that Gotama chose the time in human history in which to be reborn
for the last time (Ndk.48–9), with the Suttas saying that he was ‘mindful
and fully aware’ when he was conceived in his mother’s womb (M.iii.119
(BW.50–4)).
The early texts clearly see the conception and the other key events of
Gotama’s life, such as his birth, awakening, first sermon and death, as events
of cosmic importance; for at all of them they say that light spread through-
out the world and the earth shook. Ndk.50 relates that at the time of the
conception, Mahāmāyā, his mother, dreamt that she was transported to the
Himālayas where a being in the form of an auspicious white elephant
entered her right side. On recounting this dream to her husband,
Suddhodana (Skt Śuddhodana), he had it interpreted by sixty-four
Brahmins. They explained that it indicated that his wife had conceived a
son with a great destiny ahead of him. Either he would stay at home with his
father and go on to become a Cakkavattin (Skt Cakravartin), a compas-
sionate Universal Emperor – which the Suttas say that he had been in many
previous lives (A.iv.89) – or he would leave home and become a great
religious teacher, a Buddha.
This paralleling of a Cakkavattin7 and a Buddha is also made in relation
to other events of Gotama’s life, and indicates the idea of a Buddha having
universal spiritual ‘sovereignty’ – i.e. influence – over humans and gods. It
also indicates that Gotama renounced the option of political power in
becoming a Buddha. He certainly had no political pretensions, as
Muhammad had, and was not seen as a political threat by the rulers of his
day, as was Jesus. He did, however, teach kings and give teachings on how
best to govern a realm.
Ndk.52–3 relates that, near the end of her pregnancy, Mahāmāyā jour-
neyed from Kapilavatthu to the home of her relatives to give birth, as was
the custom. On the way, she and her party passed the pleasant Lumbinī
grove, where she stopped to enjoy the flowers and birdsong. Here she went
into labour and, holding on to a Sāl tree, gave birth standing up. The birth
of Gotama under a tree fits the pattern of the other key events in his life:
attaining awakening under another tree, giving his first sermon in an animal
(perhaps deer) park, and dying between two trees. This suggests his liking
for simple natural environments where he could be in harmony with all
forms of life. The Sutta accounts say that the baby was set down on the
ground by four gods, and that a warm and cool stream of water appeared
7
For example at D.ii.142, 169–99 (SB.98–115), iii.142–79; A.i.109–10 (BW.115–16); Harvey, 2007d:
153a–155a.
from the sky as a water-libation for mother and child. He immediately
stood, walked seven paces, scanned in all directions, and said in a noble
voice that he was the foremost being in the world, and that this would be his
last rebirth (M.iii.123).
As his mother had died a week after giving birth (M.iii.122), Gotama
was brought up by his father’s second wife, Mahāmāya’s sister,
Mahāpajāpatī (Skt Mahāprajāpatī). The Suttas say little on his early life,
except that it was one of lily pools, fine clothes and fragrances, with female
musicians as attendants in his three mansions (A.i.145). The later biogra-
phies portray him as having been an eager, intelligent and compassionate
youth. They relate that his father was keen that he should stay at home to
become a great king, and so surrounded him with luxuries to ensure that
he remained attached to the worldly life. At sixteen, he was married, and at
twenty-nine had a son named Rāhula. In Theravāda texts, his wife is
generally called ‘Mother of Rāhula’ (Rāhula-mātā, Ndk.58), but other
names used in these and other texts are Bhaddakaccā, Bimbā-devī,
Yaśodharā and Gopā.8
The renunciation and quest for awakening

It was from a pleasant and wealthy background, then, that Gotama
renounced the worldly life and set out on his religious quest. The lead-up
to this crucial transition is described in different ways in the early and later
texts. The Suttas portray it as the result of a long consideration. Even from
his sheltered existence, he became aware of the facts of ageing, sickness and
death. Realizing that even he was not immune from these, the ‘vanities’ of
youth, health and life left him (A.i.145–6). He therefore set out to find the
‘unborn, unageing, undecaying, deathless, sorrowless, undefiled, uttermost
security from bondage – Nirvāna’ (M.i.163). He realized, though, that:
˙
Household life is crowded and dusty; going forth [into the life of a wandering
Samana] is wide open. It is not easy, living life in a household, to lead a holy-life as
˙ perfect as a polished shell. Suppose I were to shave off my hair and beard,
utterly
put on saffron garments, and go forth from home into homelessness? (M.i.240)
The later texts say that the transition occurred at the age of twenty-nine,
just after the birth of his son (Ndk.61–3),9 portraying it as arising from a
sudden realization rather than from a gradual reflection. In this, they follow
8
Harvey, 2007d: 117a–121a; for a nineteenth-century Thai text ‘Bimbā’s Lament’, see BP.43.
9
Though the Sarvāstivāda tradition (EB.1.3) has Rāhula being conceived on the night of the renunci-
ation, thus ensuring Gotama’s family line is continued.
the model of a Sutta story of a previous Buddha (D.ii.22–9), which sees the
lives of all Buddhas as following a recurring pattern (dhammatā). Ndk.58–9
relates that, on three consecutive days, Gotama visited one of his parks in his
chariot. His father had had the streets cleared of unpleasant sights, but the
gods ensured that he saw an age-worn man, a sick man and a corpse. He was
amazed at these new sights, and his charioteer explained to him that ageing,
sickness and death came to all people, thus putting him in a state of
agitation at the nature of life. In this way, the texts portray an example of
the human confrontation with frailty and mortality; for while these facts are
‘known’ to us all, a clear realization and acceptance of them often does come
as a novel and disturbing insight. On a fourth trip to his park, Gotama saw a
saffron-robed Samana with a shaven head and a calm demeanour, the sight
of whom inspired ˙him to adopt such a life-style. That night, he left his
palace, taking a long last look at his son, who lay in his sleeping wife’s arms,
knowing it would be difficult for him to leave if she awoke. His renunci-
ation of family life stands as a symbolic precedent for the monastic life of
Buddhist monks and nuns.
The Buddhist tradition sees his leaving of his family as done for the
benefit of all beings; moreover, after he became a Buddha, he is said to have
returned to his home town and taught his family, with his son ordaining
under him as a novice monk, and his father becoming a ‘non-returner’
(Ndk.91–2): one with liberating insight just less than that of the Arahat (Skt
Arhat; see p. 86). After his father’s death, his stepmother, Mahāpajāpatī
becomes a nun who goes on to become an Arahat, and whose death is
compared to that of the Buddha (BP.9). It is also said in the Theravāda
commentaries that his ex-wife ordained as a nun ( Jat.ii.392–3), and she may
be identical with the nun known as Bhaddakaccānā, seen as the nun who
was pre-eminent in ‘higher knowledges’ (such as memory of past lives;
A.i.25).
The Suttas say that Gotama sought out teachers from whom he could
learn spiritual techniques, going first to Āl.āra Kālāma (Skt Arāda Kālāma).10
Gotama soon mastered his teachings and then enquired after˙ the medita-
tional state on which they were based. This was the ‘sphere of nothingness’,
a mystical trance probably attained by yogic concentration, in which the
mind goes beyond any apparent object and dwells on the remaining
‘nothingness’. After Gotama quickly learnt to enter this state, Āl.āra offered
him joint leadership of his group of disciples, but he turned down the offer
10
M.i.160–75 (BW.54–9, 69–75; BS2.14); see also M.ii.91–7 (SB.173–94).
as he felt that, while he had attained a refined inner calmness, he had not yet
attained awakening and the end of suffering.
He then went to another yoga teacher, Uddaka Rāmaputta (Skt Udraka
Rāmaputra), and again quickly grasped his doctrine and entered the medita-
tional state on which it was based, the ‘sphere of neither-perception-nor-
non-perception’. This went beyond the previous state to a level of mental
stilling where consciousness is so attenuated as to hardly exist. In response,
Uddaka acknowledged him as even his own teacher, for only his dead father,
Rāma, had previously attained this state. Again Gotama passed up a chance
of leadership and influence on the grounds that he had not yet reached his
goal. Nevertheless, he later incorporated both the mystical states he had
attained into his own meditational system, as possible ways to calm and
purify the mind in preparation for developing liberating insight. He in fact
taught a great variety of meditational methods, adapting some from the
existing yogic tradition, and can be seen as having been one of India’s
greatest practitioners of meditation.
After having experimented with one of the methods of religious practice
current in his day, Gotama went on to try another: ascetic self-
mortification. The Suttas tell that he settled in a woodland grove at
Uruvelā (Skt Uruvilvā) and resolved to strive earnestly to overcome attach-
ment to sensual pleasures by intense effort, trying to dominate such
tendencies by force of will (M.i.240–6). He practised non-breathing med-
itations, though they produced fierce headaches, stomach pains, and burn-
ing heat all over his body. He reduced his food intake to a few drops of bean
soup a day, till he became so emaciated that he could hardly stand and his
body hair fell out. At this point, he felt that it was not possible for anyone to
go further on the path of asceticism and still live. Nevertheless, though he
had developed clarity of mind and energy, his body and mind were pained
and untranquil, so that he could not carry on with his quest. He therefore
abandoned his practice of harsh asceticism, which the later texts (Ndk.67)
say lasted for six years.
At this point, he might have abandoned his quest as hopeless, but he
thought ‘might there be another path to awakening?’ (M.i.246). He then
remembered a meditative state that he had once spontaneously entered,
sitting at the foot of a tree while his father was working (the commentary
says: ceremonially ploughing). He recollected that this state, known as the
‘first jhāna’ (Skt dhyāna), was beyond involvement in sense-pleasures,
which he had been attempting to conquer by painful asceticism, but was
accompanied by deep calm, blissful joy and tranquil happiness. He remem-
bered having wondered whether it was a path to awakening, and as he now
saw that it was, he resolved to use it. The above sequence, of course, implies
that the two mystical states he had earlier attained were not entered via the
jhānas, although this became the route to them in the Buddhist meditative
system, where they are the top two of four ‘formless’ (arūpa) attainments.
When Gotama took sustaining food to prepare himself for attaining
jhāna, his five companions in asceticism shunned him in disgust, seeing
him as having abandoned their shared quest and taken to luxurious living.
One Sutta (Sn.425–49) outlines a temptation sequence which the later texts
(Ndk.72–4) put at this juncture. It refers to a Satan-like figure known as
Māra, a deity who has won his place by previous good works, but who uses
his power to entrap people in sensual desire and attachment, so as to stay
within his realm of influence (Ling, 1962). This is the round of rebirth and
repeated death, so that Māra is seen as the embodiment of both sense-desire
and death. Māra came to the emaciated ascetic with honeyed words. He
urged him to abandon his quest and take up a more conventional religious
life of sacrifice and good works, so as to generate good karma. In response,
Gotama replied that he had no need of more good karma, and scorned the
‘squadrons’ of Māra: sense-desire, jealousy, hunger and thirst, craving,
dullness and lethargy, cowardice, fear of commitment, belittling others,
obstinate insensitivity and self-praise. Māra then retreated in defeat.
This account, clearly portraying the final inner struggle of Gotama, gains
dramatic colour in the later texts, where Māra’s ‘army’ of spiritual faults
bore witness to the fact that he had done many charitable acts in previous
lives. Taunting Gotama that he had no-one to bear witness to his good
deeds, Māra tried to use the power derived from his own good karma to
throw Gotama off the spot where he was sitting. Gotama did not move,
however, but meditated on the spiritual perfections that he had developed
over many previous lives, knowing that he had a right to the spot where he
sat. He then touched the earth for it to bear witness to the good karma he
had generated in past lives. The earth quaked, and the earth goddess
appeared, wringing from her hair a flood of water, accumulated in the
past when Gotama had formalized good deeds by a simple ritual of water-
pouring (Strong, 2001: 72). At the quaking and flood, Māra and his army
fled. This ‘conquest of Māra’ is commemorated as a victory over evil by
countless images and paintings. These show Gotama, as in Plate 1, seated
cross-legged in meditation with his right hand touching the earth: the
‘conquest of Māra’ (Pali māra-vijaya) or ‘earth-witness’ (Skt bhūmi-sparśa)
gesture.
The idea of the earth goddess acting as witness to Gotama’s perfections is
suggestive of the spiritual need to be mindfully ‘earthed’. Indeed in his
Plate 1: A nineteenth-century Burmese image, showing Gotama at his ‘conquest of Māra’,

just prior to his awakening.
spiritual quest, it is notable that Gotama turned to a path of mindful

awareness of the body, especially breathing, to induce joyful jhāna, rather
than not attending to the physical in formless states or trying to forcefully
repress the body and its needs in the painful ascetic way.
The awakening and after
Free of spiritual hindrances, Gotama then developed deep meditations as a
prelude to his awakening, seated under a species of tree which later became
known as the Bodhi, or ‘Awakening’ tree. The Sutta account (M.i.247–9
(BW.64–7)) describes how he entered the first jhāna, and then gradually
deepened his state of concentrated calm till he reached the fourth jhāna, a
state of great equanimity, mental brightness and purity. Based on this state,
he went on to develop, in the course of the three watches of the moonlit
night, the ‘threefold knowledge’: memory of many of his countless previous
lives, seeing the rebirth of others according to their karma, and knowing the
destruction of the āsavas (Skt āśravas) – spiritual ‘taints’ or ‘cankers’ which
fester in the mind and keep it unawakened. The third knowledge, com-
pleted at dawn, brought the perfect awakening he had been seeking, so that
he was now, at the age of thirty-five, a Buddha, with joyful direct experience
of the unconditioned Nirvāna, beyond ageing, sickness and death.
˙
The Canonical account (Vin.i.1–8; M.I.167–70) then says that the new
Buddha stayed under or near the Bodhi-tree for four or more weeks, at the
place now called Bodh-Gayā. After meditatively reflecting on his awaken-
ing, he pondered the possibility of teaching others, but thought that the
Dhamma he had experienced was so profound, subtle and ‘beyond the
sphere of reason’, that others would be too subject to attachment to be able
to understand it. At this, the compassionate god Brahmā Sahampati –
whom the Buddhist tradition saw as a long-lived ‘non-returner’ who had
been taught by a previous Buddha (S.v.232–3; Sn-a.476) – became alarmed
at the thought that a fully awakened person had arisen in the world, but that
he might not share his rare and precious wisdom with others. He therefore
appeared before the Buddha and respectfully asked him to teach, for ‘there
are beings with little dust in their eyes who, not hearing the Dhamma, are
decaying’. The Buddha then used his mind-reading powers to survey the
world and determine that some people were spiritually mature enough to
understand his message, and so decided to teach. The entreaty of the
compassionate Brahmā is seen by Buddhists as the stimulus for the unfold-
ing of the Buddha’s compassion, the necessary complement to his awakened
wisdom for his role as a perfect Buddha, a ‘teacher of gods and humans’.
The words attributed to Sahampati are now used as a Theravāda chant to
formally request a monk to teach.
Gotama wished to teach his two yoga teachers first of all, but gods
informed him that they were now dead, a fact which he then confirmed
by his meditative awareness. He therefore decided to teach his former
companions in asceticism. Intuiting that they were currently in the animal
park at Isipatana (Skt R.s.ipatana; now called Sārnāth) near Varanasi
(Benares), he set out to walk there, a journey of about one hundred miles.
The first sermon and the spread of the teachings

The Canonical account (Vin.i.8–21) relates that, on arriving at the animal
park, his five former companions saw him in the distance, and resolved to
snub him as a spiritual failure. As he approached, however, they saw that a
great change had come over him and, in spite of themselves, respectfully
greeted him and washed his feet. At first they addressed him as an equal, but
the Buddha insisted that he was a Tathāgata, a ‘Thus-gone’ or ‘One-
attuned-to-reality’ (cf. A.ii.23–4 (BW.421–3)), who had found the
Deathless and could therefore be their teacher. After he twice repeated his
affirmation, to overcome their hesitation, the ascetics acknowledged that he
had a new-found assurance and were willing to be taught by him.
Gotama, usually referred to as the ‘Lord’ or ‘Blessed One’ (Bhagavat) in
the Suttas, then gave his first sermon. This commenced with the idea that
there is a ‘middle way’ for those who have gone forth from the home life, a
way which avoids both the extremes of devotion to mere sense-pleasures and
devotion to ascetic self-torment. Gotama had himself previously experi-
enced both of these spiritual dead-ends. The middle way which he had
found to lead to awakening was the Ariya (Skt Ārya), or Noble, Eight-
factored Path (Magga, Skt Mārga). He then continued with the kernel of his
message, on the four True Realities for the Spiritually Ennobled (generally
translated as ‘Noble Truths’), which are four crucial dimensions of exis-
tence: the painful aspects of life; craving as the key cause of rebirth and these
associated mental and physical pains; the cessation of these from the
cessation of craving; and the way of practice leading to this cessation, the
Noble Eight-factored Path. He then emphasized the liberating effect on
him of his full insight into and appropriate responses to these realities, such
that he was now a Buddha.
As a result of this instruction, one member of Gotama’s audience,
Kondañña (Skt Kaundinya), gained experiential insight into the four
True˙ ˙ Realities, so that˙ ˙Gotama joyfully affirmed his understanding. This
insight is described as the gaining of the stainless ‘Dhamma-eye’, by which
Kondañña ‘sees’, ‘attains’ and ‘plunges into’ the Dhamma, free from all
˙ ˙ in the Buddha’s teachings. This is a person’s first spiritual break-
doubt
through, involving the first glimpse of Nirvāna. In most cases, as with
Kondañña, it makes a person a ‘stream-enterer’: ˙ one who has entered the
˙˙
path that will ensure the full attainment of Nirvāna within seven lives at
most. Kondañña’s gaining of the Dhamma-eye is clearly˙ seen as the climax
˙ ˙
of the first sermon, for as soon as it occurs, the exultant message is rapidly
transmitted up through various levels of gods that ‘the supreme Dhamma-
wheel’ had been set in motion by the ‘Blessed One’, and could not be
stopped by any power: an era of the spiritual influence of the Dhamma had
begun. The ‘Setting in motion of the Dhamma-wheel’ (Dhamma-cakka-
ppavattana, Skt Dharma-cakra-pavartana) thus became the title of the Sutta
of the first sermon (S.v.420–4).
After Kondañña was ordained, thus becoming the first member of the
˙˙
monastic Saṅgha, the Buddha gave more extensive explanations of his
teachings to the other four ascetics, so that, one by one, they attained the
Dhamma-eye and were then ordained. Later the Buddha gave his ‘second’
sermon (see p. 58), at which his disciples all attained the full experience of
Nirvāna – as he himself had done at his awakening – so as to become
˙
Arahats.
Other disciples, monastic and lay, followed, so that soon there were sixty-
one Arahats, including the Buddha. Having such a body of awakened
monk-disciples, the Buddha sent them out on a mission to spread the
Dhamma: ‘Walk, monks, on tour for the blessing of the manyfolk, for the
happiness of the manyfolk, out of compassion for the world, for the welfare,
the blessing, the happiness of gods and humans’ (Vin.i.21 (BTTA.7)). As the
teaching spread, Gotama in time gained his two chief disciples: Sāriputta,
famed for his wisdom and ability to teach, and Moggallāna, famed for his
psychic powers developed by meditation.11 At some point during his life,
Gotama initiated an order of nuns (see pp. 298–9), this being said to be in
response to the repeated requests of his stepmother Mahāpajāpatī, and the
suggestion of his faithful attendant monk Ānanda (Vin.ii.253–83 (BTTA.3)).
The Canon gives only incidental reference to events between the sending
out of the sixty Arahats and the last year of the Buddha’s life. The general
picture conveyed is that he spent his long teaching career wandering on
foot, with few possessions, around the Ganges basin region. Though he was
of a contemplative nature, loving the solitude of natural surroundings, he
was generally accompanied by many disciples and spent much of his time in
or near the new towns and cities, especially Sāvatthī, Rājagaha and Vesālī
(Skt Śrāvastī, Rājagr.ha, Vāiśalī). Here, there were many people of a ques-
tioning nature looking for a new spiritual outlook. The commentary to
the Thera-gāthā and Therī-gāthā describes the background of 328 monks
11
For stories of his converting some key disciples, see BTTA.1; EB.2.1.1/3/5/6.
and nuns (Gombrich, 2006: 56; Gokhale, 1994: 61) and indicates that over
two-thirds came from urban areas. It also indicates that, as to their social
backgrounds, 41 per cent were Brahmin, 23 per cent Ks.atriya, 30 per cent
Vaiśya, 3 per cent Śūdra, and 3 per cent ‘outcaste’ (below the Śūdras in the
Brahmanical hierarchy). Of these, the Brahmins do not generally appear to
have been traditional village priests, but urban dwellers perhaps employed as
state officials. State officials and merchants were the dominant groups in
urban society, but neither had an established niche in the varna system
(though merchants later came to be seen as Vaiśyas). These groups, ˙ whose
achievements depended on personal effort, seem to have been particularly
attracted to the Buddha’s message, which addressed people as individuals in
charge of their own moral and spiritual destiny, rather than as members of
the varna system (Gombrich 2006: 79–83); respect should be based on
˙ spiritual worth, not birth: it had to be earned (Sn.136). The
moral and
Buddha taught all who came to him without distinction: men, women, rich
merchants, servants, Brahmins, craftsmen, ascetics, kings and courtesans,
and made a point of insisting that social background was irrelevant to the
position of individuals within the Saṅgha (A.iv.202). He also urged his
disciples to teach in the local languages or dialects of their hearers (Vin.
ii.139). In contrast, the Brahmins taught in Sanskrit, which had by now
become unintelligible to those who had not studied it, and only made the
Vedic teachings available to males of the top three varnas.
˙
The Buddha’s charisma and powers

The early texts portray the Buddha as a charismatic, humanitarian teacher
who inspired many people. He even elicited a response from animals: for it is
said that an elephant once looked after him by bringing him water when he
was spending a period alone in the forest (Vin.i.352). A person who bore
enmity towards him, however, was his cousin Devadatta, one of his monks.
Jealous of his influence, Devadatta once suggested that the ageing Buddha
should let him lead the Saṅgha, and then plotted to kill him when the request
was turned down (Vin.ii.191–5). In one attempt on his life, Devadatta asked
his friend, Prince Ajātasattu (Skt Ajātaśatru), to send soldiers to waylay and
assassinate the Buddha. Sixteen soldiers in turn went to do this, but all were
too afraid to do so, and became the Buddha’s disciples instead. In another
attempt, the fierce man-killing elephant Nālāgiri was let loose on the road on
which the Buddha was travelling. As the elephant charged, the Buddha calmly
stood his ground and suffused the elephant with the power of his
lovingkindness, so that it stopped and bowed its head, letting the Buddha
stroke and tame it.
In gaining hearers for his message, the Buddha did not always rely on his
charisma, reputation and powers of persuasion. Occasionally he had
recourse to his psychic powers, though he forbade the mere display of
these by his disciples (Vin.ii.112). The results of such powers are not seen
as supernatural miracles, but as the supernormal products of the great inner
power of certain meditations. A late Canonical passage (Patis.i.125)
describes his ‘marvel of the pairs’, which later legendary material ascribes
to the Buddha while staying at Sāvatthī (Dhp-a.iii.204–16): he rose into the
air and produced both fire and water from different parts of his body.
Occasionally, he used his powers to heal one of his devout supporters
physically, such as bringing a long and very painful childbirth to an end
(Ud.15–16), or curing a wound without leaving even a scar (Vin.i.216–18).
The Buddha generally regarded psychic powers as dangerous, however, as
they could encourage attachment and self-glorification. In a strange parallel
to the temptation of Jesus in the desert, it is said that he rebuffed Māra’s
temptation to turn the Himālayas into gold (S.i.116).
The passing away of the Buddha

The Mahāparinibbāna Sutta12 deals with the last year of the Buddha’s life.
During this period, he suffered an illness, and Ānanda asked about the fate
of the Saṅgha after his death, clearly wondering who would lead it. In reply,
the Buddha said that he had taught the Dhamma without holding anything
back, and that the Saṅgha depended on the Dhamma, not on any leader,
even himself.13 Members of the Saṅgha should look to their own self-reliant
practice, with the clearly taught Dhamma as guide: with themselves and the
Dhamma as ‘island’ and ‘refuge’ (D.ii.100). Later the Buddha specified that,
after his death, the Saṅgha should take both the Dhamma and monastic
discipline (Vinaya) as their ‘teacher’ (D.ii.154).
Though unwell for the last three months of his life, the Buddha con-
tinued to wander on foot, his journey ending in the small village of Kusinārā
(Skt Kuśunagarī). When asked what his funeral arrangements should be, he
said that this was the concern of the laity, not the Saṅgha, but that his body
should be treated like that of a Cakkavattin emperor. It should be wrapped
12
D.ii.72–167 (SB.37–97); EB.1.7 is from a parallel Sanskrit text.
13
Though several texts of north-west India came to talk of Mahākāśyapa (Pali Mahākassapa) as having
been the Budda’s successor (Ray, 1994: 105–18).
in cloth, placed in a coffin and cremated. The relics remaining should then
be placed in a Stūpa (Pali Thūpa), or burial mound, at a place where four
roads meet. He then said, ‘When people place a garland, fragrance or paste
there, or make respectful salutations, or bring peace to their hearts, that will
contribute to their long-lasting welfare and happiness’ (D.ii.142). After his
cremation, the Buddha’s relics were placed in eight Stūpas (EB.1.1), with the
bowl used to collect the relics and the ashes of the funeral fire in two more.
Such Stūpas, which could alternatively contain relics of Arahats, later
became the focus of much devotion.
Even on his death-bed, the Buddha continued to teach. A wanderer
asked whether other Samana leaders had attained true knowledge. Rather
than say that their religious˙ systems were wrong and his right, the Buddha
simply indicated that the crucial ingredient of any such system was the
Noble Eight-factored Path: only then could it lead to full Arahatship. He
saw such a Path as absent from other teachings that he knew of.
Not long after this, the Buddha asked his monks if any had final
questions that they wanted answering before he died. When they were
silent, he sensitively said that, if they were silent simply out of reverence for
him, they should have a friend ask their question. They remained silent.
Seeing that they all had a good understanding of his teachings, he therefore
gave his final words: ‘It is the nature of conditioned things to decay, but if
you are attentive, you will succeed!’ (D.ii.156). He then made his exit from
the world, in the fearless, calm and self-controlled state of meditation. He
passed into the first jhāna, and then by degrees through the three other
jhānas, the four ‘formless’ mystical states, and then the ‘cessation of per-
ception and feeling’ (see pp. 331–2). He then gradually descended back to
the first jhāna, moved back up to the fourth jhāna, and passed away from
there (D.ii.156). Buddhists see this event not so much as a ‘death’ as a
passing into the Deathless, Nirvāna.
˙
the nature and role of the buddha

The Suttas contain some very ‘human’ information on the Buddha, such as
getting backache after a long teaching session (D.iii.209). In the Mahā-
parinibbāna Sutta, we find the eighty-year-old Buddha expressing ‘weari-
ness’ at the prospect of being asked about the rebirth-destiny of every person
who has died in a locality (D.ii.93); saying he was old and worn out and only
knowing comfort when in a deep meditation (D.ii.100); in his final illness,
being extremely thirsty, and insisting on immediately being given water
(D.ii.128–9). However, elsewhere in the same text the Buddha crosses the
Ganges by means of his psychic power (D.ii.89); he says that, if he asked, he
could have lived on ‘for a kappa, or the remainder of one’ (D.ii.103), with
kappa (Skt kalpa) generally meaning ‘eon’, but possibly here the maximum
human life-span of around 100 years; when he lies down between two Sāl
trees, where he will die, these burst into unseasonal blossom in homage to
him, and divine music is heard in the sky (D.ii.137–8); gods from ten regions
of the universe assemble to witness the great event of a Buddha’s passing
into final Nirvāna at death (parinibbāna, Skt parinirvāna;14 D.ii.138–9);
gods prevent his ˙ funeral pyre from igniting until the ˙ senior disciple
Mahākassapa (Skt Mahākāśyapa) arrives at the site (D.ii.163).
Thus, while modern Theravādins sometimes say that the Buddha was ‘a
human being, pure and simple’ (Rahula, 1974: 1), such remarks have to be
taken in context. They are usually intended to contrast the Buddha with
Jesus, seen as the ‘Son of God’, and to counter the Mahāyāna view of the
Buddha’s nature, which sees it as far above the human. These remarks may
also be due to a modernist, somewhat demythologized view of the Buddha.
In the Pali Canon, Gotama was seen as born a human, though one with
extraordinary abilities due to the perfections built up in his long Bodhisatta
career. Once he had attained awakening, though, he could no longer be
called a ‘human’, as he had perfected and transcended his humanness. This
idea is reflected in a Sutta passage where the Buddha is asked whether he is
(literally ‘will be’) a god (deva) or a human (A.ii.37–9 (BTTA.105)). In reply,
he said that he had gone beyond the deep-rooted unconscious traits that
would make him a god or human, and was therefore to be seen as a Buddha,
one who had grown up in the world but who had now gone beyond it, as a
lotus grows from the water but blossoms above it, unsoiled.
The mysterious nature of a Buddha is indicated by the Buddha’s chiding
of a monk who had too much uncritical faith in him, so as to be always
following him round: ‘Hush, Vakkali! What is there for you in seeking
this vile visible body? Vakkali, whoever sees Dhamma, sees me; whoever sees
me, sees Dhamma’ (S.iii.120). This close link between the Buddha and
Dhamma is reinforced by another Sutta passage, which says that a Tathāgata
can be designated as ‘one having Dhamma as body’ (Dhamma-kāya;
Harrison, 1992: 50) and who is ‘Dhamma-become’ (Dhamma-bhūta;
D.iii.84). These terms indicate that a Buddha has fully exemplified the
Dhamma, in the sense of the Path, in his personality or ‘body’. Moreover, he
14
The term parinibbāna/parinirvāna is sometimes also used for the attaining of Nirvāna in life (the
verbal equivalent parinibbāyati ˙is often used this way), but has more typically, and˙ especially in
modern usage, come to refer particularly to an Arahat’s or Buddha’s attaining final Nirvāna at death.
˙
has fully realized Dhamma in the supreme sense by his experience of
Nirvāna, the equivalent of the supreme Dhamma (A.i.156 and 158). The
Arahat˙ is no different in these respects, for he is described as ‘become the
supreme’ (brahma-bhūta, S.iii.83), a term which is used as an equivalent to
‘Dhamma-become’ in the above passage. Any awakened person is one who
is ‘deep, immeasurable, hard-to-fathom as is the great ocean’ (M.i.487).
Having ‘become Dhamma’, their awakened nature can only really be
fathomed by one who has ‘seen’ Dhamma with the ‘Dhamma-eye’ of
stream-entry. While Christians see Jesus as God-become-human, then,
Buddhists see the Buddha (and Arahats) as human-become-Dhamma.
In the early Buddhist texts, the Buddha is himself said to be an Arahat,
and to be in most respects like other Arahats. Any Arahat’s experience of
Nirvāna is the same; however, a perfect Buddha is seen as having more
˙ knowledge than other Arahats. While not omniscient in the sense
extensive
of continuously and uninterruptedly knowing everything (M.ii.126–7), it is
said that he could remember as far back into his countless previous lives as
he wished, and know how any being was reborn, in accordance with their
karma (M.i.482). Other Arahats had limitations on such powers, or may not
even have developed them (S.ii.122–3; M.i.477). A perfect Buddha is seen as
one who can come to know anything knowable (A.ii.25); he just needs to
turn his mind to it (Miln.102, 106). What he teaches is just a small portion
of his huge knowledge (S.v.438 (BW.360–1)), for he only teaches what is
both true and spiritually useful (M.i.395; Harvey, 1995b).
A second key difference between a Buddha and an Arahat is that a
Buddha is someone who, by his own efforts, rediscovers the Path after it
has been lost to human society (S.ii.105–7 (BW.69)). Having discovered it
for himself, he skilfully makes it known to others so that they can fully
practise it for themselves and so become Arahats (S.iii.64–5 (BW.413–14)).
He is a rediscoverer and teacher of timeless realities (A.i.286–7). As founder
of a monastic Saṅgha, and propounder of the rules of conduct binding on its
members, a Buddha also fulfils a role akin to that of ‘law-giver’.
the nature and style of the buddha’s teaching

The Buddha’s style of teaching was generally one of skilful adaptation to the
mood and concerns of his hearers, responding to the questions and even the
non-verbalized thoughts of his audience and taking cues from events
(Gombrich, 2009: 161–79). By means of a dialogue with his questioners,
he gradually moved them towards sharing something of his own insight into
reality. When Brahmins asked him about how to attain union with the god
Brahmā after death, he said this could be attained by meditative develop-
ment of deep lovingkindness and compassion, rather than by bloody Vedic
sacrifices (D.i.235–52). He often gave old terms new meanings, for example
talking of the Arahat as the ‘true Brahmin’ (Dhp.383–423), and using the
term ariya, equivalent to the Sanskrit term for the ‘noble’ Aryan people, in
the sense of spiritually noble or ennobled.
The Buddha treated questions in a careful, analytic way. Some he
answered directly, others he answered after first analysing them so as to
clarify the nature of the question. Some he answered with a counter-
question, to reveal concealed motives and presuppositions; others again he
‘set aside’ as question-begging and fraught with misconceptions (A.ii.46).
He did not mind if others disagreed with him, but censured misinter-
pretations of what he taught. He showed even-mindedness when gaining
disciples. A general, Sīha (Skt Simha), who was a great supporter of Jain
monks, once decided to become a ˙lay disciple, but the Buddha advised him
that such a prominent person as himself should carefully consider before
changing his religious allegiances (Vin.i.236 (BTTA.2)). When he still
wished to do so, and wanted to support Buddhist monks, the Buddha
advised him that he should still support Jain monks, too.
The Buddha emphasized that one should not mistake belief for knowl-
edge,15 and the importance of self-reliance and the experiential testing-out
of all teachings, including his own (M.i.317–20 (BW.93–6)). Only occa-
sionally, for example before his first sermon, did he use his authority, but
this was not to force people to agree with him, but to get them to listen so
that they could then gain understanding. He also advised his disciples not to
react emotionally when they heard people speaking in blame or praise of
him, but to assess calmly the degree to which what was said was true or false
(D.i.3). He was well aware of the many conflicting doctrines of his day, a
time of intellectual ferment. Rejecting teachings based on authoritative
tradition, or mere rational speculation, he emphasized the examination
and analysis of actual experience. When he spoke to the confused
Kālāma people,16 after many teachers had visited them praising their own
teachings and disparaging those of others, he said:
you should not go along with something because of what you have been told,
because of authority, because of tradition, because of accordance with a transmitted
text, on the grounds of reason, on the grounds of logic, because of analytic thought,
because of abstract theoretic pondering, because of the appearance of the speaker,
15
M.ii.168–77 (BW.96–103; Harvey 2009b: 179–81).
16
Kālāma Sutta, A.i.188–93 (BW.88–9; SB.251–6; Harvey 2009b: 176–8).
or because some ascetic is your teacher. When you know for yourselves that
particular qualities are unwholesome, blameworthy, censured by the wise, and
lead to harm and suffering when taken on and pursued, then you should give them
up. (A.i.189 (SB.252))
Accordingly, they should see that greed, hatred and delusion (lack of mental
clarity), which lead to behaviour that harms others, are to be avoided, and
non-greed (generosity and renunciation), non-hatred (lovingkindness and
compassion) and non-delusion (clarity of mind and wisdom) are to be
engaged in. By implication, teachings which discourage the former and
encourage the latter are worth following.
The Buddha emphasized that his teachings had a practical purpose, and
should not be blindly clung to. He likened the Dhamma to a raft made by a
man seeking to cross from the dangerous hither shore of a river, representing
the conditioned world, to the peaceful further shore, representing Nirvāna
(M.i.134–5 (BTTA.77; SB.160–1)). He then rhetorically asked whether such ˙
a man, on reaching the other shore, should lift up the raft and carry it
around with him there. He therefore said, ‘Dhamma is for crossing over, not
for retaining’. That is, a follower should not grasp at Buddhist ideas and
practices, but use them for their intended purpose, and should know that a
person who has accomplished their goal does not carry them as an identity
to defend. Many ordinary Buddhists, though, do have a strong attachment
to Buddhism.
While the Buddha was critical of blind faith, he did not deny a role for
soundly based faith or ‘trustful confidence’ (saddhā, Skt śraddhā); for to test
out his teachings, a person has to have at least some initial trust in them.
The early texts envisage a process of listening, which arouses saddhā, leading
to practice, and thus to partial confirmation of the teachings, and thus to
deeper saddhā and deeper practice until the heart of the teachings is directly
experienced (M.ii.171–6). A person then becomes an Arahat, one whose
confidence is rooted in insight. Even in Theravāda Buddhism, which often
has a rather rational, unemotional image, a very deep faith in the Buddha,
Dhamma and Saṅgha is common. Ideally, this is based on the fact that some
part of the Buddha’s path has been found to be uplifting, thus inspiring
confidence in the rest. Many people, though, simply have a calm and joyful
faith (pasāda, Skt prasāda) inspired by the example of those who are well
established on the Path.

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more information – www.cambridge.

In this new edition of the bestselling Introduction to Buddhism, Peter

peter harvey is Emeritus Professor of Buddhist Studies at the

© Peter Harvey 2013

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception

First edition published 1990, reprinted twenty times.

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data

isbn 978-0-521-85942-4 Hardback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or

List of illustrations page xi

Frontispiece: The ‘Peace Pagoda’ in Battersea Park, London. page ii

1 Current location of Buddhism in Asia. 6

1 Sāñcī Stūpa. (Adapted from A. Volwahsen, Living

1 A nineteenth-century Burmese image, showing Gotama at his

1 Factors of the Eight-factored Path page 83

Note that below:

Map 1: Current location of Buddhism in Asia.

Bangkok Ancient Silk Road

The Buddha and his Indian Context

background to the life of the buddha2

Land over 1000 metres

0 100 miles (Calcutta)

Map 2: The region where the Buddha lived and taught.

the life of the buddha4

The renunciation and quest for awakening

Plate 1: A nineteenth-century Burmese image, showing Gotama at his ‘conquest of Māra’,

spiritual quest, it is notable that Gotama turned to a path of mindful

The ﬁrst sermon and the spread of the teachings

The Buddha’s charisma and powers

The passing away of the Buddha

the nature and role of the buddha

the nature and style of the buddha’s teaching

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