Study of Buddhism.  As we did for Hinduism, we will reproduce below a summary from another scholar (same source as earlier) as an attempt to review and place into perspective the main features, beliefs, and practices of Buddhist tradition.  As you know there are three basic types of Buddhism: Theravada (sometimes called Hinayana or "small/lesser vehicle" as in the following summary), Mahayana ("great vehicle), and Vajrayana ("diamond or unbreakable vehicle").  Though the last mentioned is prominent in Tibet, it has less influence in the rest of the Buddhist world and so again we will focus on the first two.  Though our author employs the term "Hinayana" for the former, I would prefer you to use the more neutral term "Theravada."  The author's treatment of Buddhism is brief and fairly straightforward, but it is no more than a summary and therefore a means for you to review the material for your forthcoming exam.  I would stress more the great influence of Chinese tradition on Mahayana and the great differences between Theravada and Mahayana in terms of beliefs and practice --focus on the arhat and the bodhisattva, respectively.  Note also the important contributions both of China and Japan to the development and variety of Mahayana Buddhism.  We now turn to the following summary description of the vast Buddhist tradition.

            Summary.  "Buddhism is the name given to a family of religions traditions deriving from the dharma (law) enunciated and exemplified by Gautama Buddha in India about 600 B.C.  It presents a view of all existence as characterized by transience, suffering, and no determinate essence of anything; it describes human beings as limited and ruled by ignorance and desire; and it offers a path to spiritual freedom through understanding and mental and moral action.  Gautama, the originator of this tradition, after a great struggle attained to wisdom or enlightenment (bodhi) by his own unaided effort, which constituted him as Budh-ta, the awakened or the enlightened.  He then formed the Sangha (order of monks) who emulated him and aided in proclamation and dissemination of his spiritual insight and regimen.  After his death the Sangha grew, and through the centuries there were several great Councils  of representatives from all branches.
            "Gradually a division took place between the stricter program, where a limited number of monks followed the original program and discipline in the monastery, and a developed or expanded version of the spiritual way, which gave opportunity for more people to follow the path to enlightenment.  For these two major divisions or ways the usual names are Hinayana and Mahayana, commonly translated 'lesser  vehicle' and 'great vehicle.'  Hinayana is found in Southeast Asia, and Mahayana was for centuries widespread in China until suppressed by the present Chinese government, leaving Japan as the principal Mahayana country.  A subgroup of the Mahayana formerly found in Tibet and Nepal continues in Nepal and outside Tibet and constitutes a third vehicle, the Vajrayana or Way of the Thunderbolt.  There are great differences among these three divisions, particularly between the two major groups.  They do agree that karma holds one in rounds of samsara until one gains enlightenment and thus reaches Nirvana, the spiritual homeland.
            "Each of the three vehicles has a distinctive sacred literature, the Hinayana canon consists of collected traditional oral stories about, and sermons or discourses of, Gautama Buddha; Mahayana and Vajrayana literature expanded and developed the traditions about Buddha, explaining their new Buddha theory and metaphysical teachings, in a voluminous body of hundreds of works in thousands of volumes.  Included in these works are various classic formulations of Buddhist teaching, such as the Four Noble Truths: all life is suffering; suffering is caused by craving; to end suffering, end craving; to end craving, and hence suffering, follow the Eightfold Path of right: belief, resolve, speech, behavior, occupation, effort, contemplation, and concentration.
            "All three ways take Buddha as their ideal and guide, and in every case their theory and practice are centered on him, but the development of the Buddha cult brought a much different view of him in the Mahayana.  In Hinayana, Buddha is a human, paradigmatic figure who is venerated for his own spiritual achievement and teaching, but now being in Nirvana he is not available for prayer or direct help to believers, who must accomplish salvation by themselves. Buddha himself neither affirmed nor denied the existence of God, and there is no place or need for God in Hinayana.  In Mahayana theory the Buddha cult transformed Buddha into a principle, concept, or type as the ideal expression of the Buddha spirit, and at least two general classes of Buddha figures appeared.  The Bodhisattvas are by nature beings of wisdom who defer their earned entrance into Nirvana in order to perform their function of bringing all beings to enlightenment.  Various celestial or cosmic Buddhas with distinctive spiritual attributes, although they do not appear on earth in human form as do the Bodhisattvas, are available to devotees through devotion and faith, to help them advance toward spiritual freedom.
            "The traditional, ideal program of Buddhist practice is threefold: moral conduct as the prerequisite, study and meditation as the means, and samadhi (concentrative absorption) as the fulfillment.  Nirvana stands as the ultimate realization beyond even meditation, a kind of Buddhist spiritual homeland, transcending all else as the place of pure spiritual reality and enjoyment.  The classic means to it is meditation, but the varieties of Buddhism include what are essentially systems of faith in certain Buddhas and their Buddha worlds, as other ways to Nirvana.  Worship and ritual in Buddhism follow the Asiatic pattern of individual acts centering on veneration of Buddha as seen in an image.  The typical Buddhist religious structure in Hinayana countries is a stupa or pagoda, housing a Buddha relic and/or images.  In Japan there are temples with a wide variety of Buddha images, which are the focus of reverence and devotion.
            "Hinayana Buddhism is monks' religion, with the laity gaining merit (toward better karma and enlightenment) only by acts of merit such as visits to stupas and other holy places and by supporting the monks and monasteries.  There is more direct participation in the ritual and activity of the temple by the laity in Japanese Mahayana.  For although few Hinayana monks attain enlightenment, the Mahayana cult makes it possible in theory for everyone to reach Nirvana.  Through the help of Bodhisattvas and celestial Buddhas who really serve as gods, whatever they are called, Mahayanists gain enlightenment, so that Avolokitesvara and Amitabha, for example, as the prime manifestations of karuna (compassion or mercy), are great gods of Asia.
            "In Hinayana the ethical aspect is grounded in the rules of dharma for monks and laity, while in Mahayana it is spelled out in the perfections which carry a Bodhisattva toward enlightenment.  There is a strong universalistic stress on benevolent love, deriving from the boundless compassion of Buddha for all beings, which believers are to emulate.  The institutional organization of Buddhism is through the monasteries or wats in Southeast Asia. Following a patter somewhat like that of Christianity, with its organizational structures based on doctrinal differences, there are three major divisions of Japanese Buddhism: Pure Land or Amida, Nichiren, and Zen" (from W.J. Fellows, Religions East and West, 189 191).

            In conclusion I refer you to the brief summary in your text book (Religious World, 190-193), as well as the following glossary of major terms. 

            Good luck with your exam review and preparation for the exam (Friday--2/10/06).

            We should begin here by reviewing the essential differences between Theravada and Mahayana, as done in class.  Then we would stress the important historical and doctrinal events or features that contributed to the basic evolution of the latter, whether the emphasis of some early Buddhist communities on the doctrines of the many Buddhas (the trikaya doctrine), the important concept or ideal of the bodhisattva (concepts derived from use of the Lotus Sutra), and especially the dramatic and formative passage of Buddhism in China before its eventual arrival in Japan in the 6/7 centuries AD.

            a. Pure Land Buddhism.  Beyond these general, essential features and formative influences, one should look at some specific forms of Mahayana practice.  The first, Pure Land, began as a distinct school of Chinese Buddhism which focused on the teachings of Amitabha Buddha, a celestial bodhisattva figure who allegedly vowed to save all beings who call to him in faith.  Thus there developed a religious movement that focused on the recitation of the mantra, "Praise to Amitabha Buddha" (a chant that will be called the nembutsu in Japan).  To be saved from an evil world, one had to call upon Amitabha and be reborn in  his paradise.  From such devotion there developed an extensive liturgy and ethical practice whose focus, in large part, was filial piety.

            The popular religious tradition was brought into Japan (in the 12/13 centuries AD) where it flourishes to this day.  There too the chant to Amida (the Japanese version of the Buddha's name), now called the nembutsu, took center stage in the movement's faith and debate over grace and merit.  Thus a Japanese tradition which began as a monastic movement soon moved out of the monastery and took on a far more social character, whereby the devotees of Amida, those who surrendered totally to his grace, sought purification of the world and its beings with a focus on social work and welfare activities as means to rebirth in Amida's Pure Land.

            b. Zen--the Meditation School.  Another, quite different school of Chinese Buddhist tradition, the Ch'an or Meditation School, also made its way to Japan in a rather developed form, i.e., with its concepts of emptiness or void, its focus on discovering or penetrating the Buddha-nature, and its characteristic use of shock and focused methods of seeking truth (called truth realization), i.e., the koan or riddle, physical blows, and other means of concentration.  In Japan Zen tradition developed into two principal sects: the monastic version of Rinzai and the lay counterpart of the Soto sect.  The Japanese Zen tradition continued the Chinese practices of seeking emptiness to achieve or realize Buddha-nature, whether through the rigors of monastic life and discipline (especially of sitting meditation) or numerous methods or means of concentration (such as calligraphy, the martial arts, the tea ceremony) to destroy old and reach new perceptions of reality and ultimately to become aware of what is within and to bring it out, that is, to actualize one's Buddha-nature and thus to attain satori or the Japanese version of nirvana.

            c. The Nichiren Doctrine.  A final form of Mahayana (only briefly mentioned in class--but see class handout and textbook) might be mentioned here to underscore another direction in which the Japanese tradition of Mahayana developed, namely, the radical political religious movement (or groups of sects--one among them being Soka Gakkai) which employs the Lotus Sutra, seeks enlightenment through faith and recitation, and views the world in a positive way as providing success and happiness as the result or fruits of faith

Hinduism

            Vedic religion as world-affirming and Hinduism as participation
            techniques of participation
            Hinduism as assimilating world-negating influences & Hinduism as withdrawal
            techniques of withdrawal
            Hindu scriptures (Vedas, Upanishads) & sacred writings: shruti & smriti
            concept of the Divine: many gods, Brahman, Brahman-Atman
            samsara, karma, moksha
            castes: origin, function in Hindu belief
            stages of life as world affirming/negating
            goals as essentially world affirming
            devotion/bhakti (esp. as related to Vishnu and Shiva) as world-negating or as participation
            Hinduism as karma-yoga -- a median position
            relation of Jainism and Buddhism to classical Hinduism
 
Buddhism

            Theravada and Mahayana -- basic differences
            arhat vs bodhisattva as ideal images of two major forms of Buddhism
            life and influence of Gautama the Buddha
            major teachings/dharma of the Buddha
            nirvana--enlightenment, also satori in Mahayana
            four noble truths and eightfold path
            the middle path as a prototype of Theravada
            the three jewels or refuges as compendium of the Buddha’s teaching
            celestial Buddhas and their relation to the Buddhist trikaya doctrine
            the sangha, monks, laity -- the interrelation of these both in Theravada and in Zen
            Buddhist scriptures (Pali canon, Chinese canon, sutras)
            Pure Land & Zen as forms of Mayahana Buddhism
            important factors in the evolution of Mahayana Buddhism
            relation of Theravada Buddhism to Hinduism
 
goals for exam

            A second film from "The Long Search" on Buddhism allows us to contrast the two major forms of this religious tradition.  This time, in following the evolution of the Buddhist tradition we travel not Southeast to Sri Lanka or other countries were Theravada predominates (see RW 149) but to the Northeast via China (and less so Korea) to Japan where our film maker suggests that the historical or manushi Buddha or Gautama has disappeared or been "theologized" out of existence.

            Whether one subscribes to the film maker's almost naive approach to the repetitive question, "where is the Buddha"?, one is able to enjoy the many visits to places where some form of Mahayana group, ceremony, or discussion takes place: a Zen restaurant, monasteries and meditation, and ceremonies or dialogue with Zen monks, on the one hand, or a Pure Land home, temple, prayer cessions at an industrial site, and discussion with a Pure Land priest, on the other.  These two types of Mahayana illustrate clearly the importance of two forms of Buddha doctrine: 1) Buddha nature and Zen's quest for the inner Buddha through various means (calligraphy, martial arts, [sitting] meditation, consideration of the empty circle, or the tea ceremony), as well as 2) the transcendent Buddha as bodhisattva, in this case the compassion of Amida Buddha who assists all who call upon him in faith and helps them to his Buddha land or paradise--our film narrator speaks of the "straight back" effort and self-reliance of Zen and the "bent backs" of those who need, seek, and receive help from the Compassionate One, Amida.

            One sees other forms of Buddhism (the modern Soka Gakkai); the viewer is likewise introduced to Japanese Spirit religion, Shinto.  But ultimately one is exposed to two forms of Mahayana, both of which walk away from the historical Buddha and focus on other aspects of Buddha doctrine.  The practitioners of Zen insist: "I, everyone, everything is the Buddha"; that of Pure Land believes: "I rely on the compassion of Amida Buddha."  So the Buddha has not disappeared--or has he?

            There is less concentration in this film on the historical person who was enlightened and more on Buddhist thinking concerning who the Buddha is and how the concept relates to the quest for salvation, whether the believer's trust in Amida the Bodhisattva and his compassionate help or the process of waking up to one's Buddha nature.  How much of this the film makes explicit is less clear but, combined with some reading of your textbook and class notes, the film provides a wonderful, initial visit to the practice of Zen and Pure Land and provides some insight to the overall concerns of Mahayana Buddhism.  We will return, at some length in our last lecture on Buddhism, to the two types of Mahayana Buddhism seen in this film: Zen and Pure Land.

            First a few comments on its early and overall history.  While little is known about the early centuries of Buddhist history, especially about is "legendary" councils, there seems to be agreement that there developed rather early (4th century BC) in its history a number of groups, the two principal of which were the Theravadins and the Mahasanghiskos.  From these two, there essentially developed the two principal divisions of later and modern-day Buddhism.  With some hesitation one can attribute the earliest form of the Buddha's teaching (especially the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path) to the former, the group that claims to follow the path of the fathers or early Buddhist monks.  The presence of this type of Buddhism in Southeast Asia (from India, Sri Lanka to Burma to Cambodia to Indonesia) no doubt owes to early missionary movement out of India (see early handout with map of India and schema of early Buddhist missions).

            The latter, the Mahasanghiskos, then would mark the origin of the Mahayanist development of Buddhist thinking, a group that was originally a monastic movement that was somehow more open to new ideas such as an exalted concept of the Buddha as ultimate, supreme, infinite and eternal.  This group, as will be true of other, later Mahayanist sects,  will focus on specific Scriptures, such as the Lotus Sutra, particularly that text's focus on the many Buddhas (e.g., Amitabha/Amida, Maitreya Buddha) and on the concept of the compassionate Buddha or bodhisattva.  Thus, this early movement and its ideas eventually expanded to China in centuries 1 BC to 1-2 AD.  There Buddhism made a gradual impact on Chinese society, absorbed various Chinese concepts (e.g., filial piety, emphasis on rebirth, and continued development of the bodhisattva concept) and developed into a variety of Mahayana schools: e.g., T'ien T'ai, Pure Land, Ch'an (Zen)..., the last two of which we will consider in more detail and in their Japanese setting. Thus, Chinese or Mahayana Buddhism spread centuries later (5th and 6/7th centuries, respectively) further to the Northeast in Korea and Japan.

            Secondly, some major and central concepts of Mahayana.  At this point one should focus both on its Trikaya doctrine and its central concept of the bodhisattva.  The first, the "threefold Buddha doctrine" or Trikaya, goes a long way in explaining the various concepts of the Buddha which exist in Buddhism, whether the historical or manushi Buddha, the bodhisattva-like celestial or transcendent Buddhas (such as Amida) or the concept of the Buddha-nature or reality.  The last two will help us in our understanding of Pure Land and Zen Buddhism, two forms of Mahayana Buddhism chosen (and later to be studied) to illustrate the wide variety of Mahayanist thinking and practice--note we will also look at Nichiren in order to illustrate a more unique form of Japanese, political, (Mahayanist) Buddhist thinking.  Lastly, the concept of the bodhisattva is central to the development of Mahayana, for now Buddhist thinking, from this perspective, will focus less on misery and merit (as in Theravada and its concept of the arhat) but more on the compassion of Buddha figures and their help in assisting the masses in their quest for salvation or, in Japanese terms, satori.

            Thirdly (and lastly), a few words about the later (and overall) history of Buddhism.  We have studied the development of the Buddhist movement in Southeast Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia) and clearly recognize this form as Theravada. We have just been introduced to a multifaceted form of Buddhism (Mahayana) and its spread to (and long stay in) China, Korea, and Japan, that is, Northeast Asia.  And finally, we have mentioned the arrival and development of a a third, more esoteric form of Buddhism in the land of the Lamas or Tibet (and central Asia), a form more officially called Vajrayana (see your textbook RW, 189-193; also p. 128).

            Finally, we will terminate our study of Buddhism by focusing on three forms of Japanese (Mahayana) Buddhism in our next class.  Read from your text, RW, 162-166 on Pure Land and Zen in China and 174-182 on the Japanese version of these two movements.

            Doctrine.  A summary, especially for Theravada.  To achieve this purpose one might use the frequently-heard Buddhist prayer, referred to as "the Three Refuges":
                    I put my trust in Buddha;
                    I put my trust in the teaching or dharma;
                    I put my trust in the monastery or sangha.
One could then look at what Theravadists believe 1) about the Buddha, his paradigmatic life (choice of the Middle Path) and example in the pursuit of spiritual freedom.  Next 2) one would summarize the basic teachings of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path and then see the rest of Buddhist dharma or teaching (whether doctrinal or moral in character) as the working out of these basic teachings.  Then 3) one would focus on the importance first of the community of monk and, in more modern terms, the role played by and the various conceptions of the community of believers (i.e., the sangha).

            Of course one would add a word about Buddhist devotion or puja, activities through which believers seek purification, merit and concentration (for the latter one would greatly stress the role played by retreats and especially meditation--see the 7th and 8th paths).

            Moral Life (Sila) and Teaching.  Here too a convenient and good summary exists for one's review of this area of Buddhist thinking and activity.  Buddhist moral teaching is based on the 5 precepts, i.e., the abstention 1) from destruction of life, 2) from taking what is not given, 3) from unchastity, 4) from false speech, and 5) from fermented, strong, and maddening liquor.  Indeed, this concept of morality includes and expands these precepts and may be viewed as a middle path between extreme asceticism & extreme indulgence, a path that aims for moderation, gentleness & peace.  Thus, these precepts relate rather closely to the third, fourth, and fifth paths (see the Noble Eightfold path).

            Discussion of the Sangha and of the Role Played by the Laity.  Much could be said here about these but at this point I would refer you to your textbook, Religious World (pp. 144f and 146f) to discern the centrality of the former and the importance for the latter of the overall concept of "entering the stream" or starting and progressing on the path to spiritual freedom (see especially the sixth path).

            Another film from "The Long Search" series takes us to Sri Lanka, site of one of the earliest mission fields of the Buddhist movement (and to NE India).  Once again, Ron, the British film maker, leads the viewer to a corner of the Buddhist world to witness a form of Buddhism that is closest to that preached by Gautama the Buddha.  The film, as well as Theravada Buddhism itself (the form to which the film is devoted), is thus devoted to the man who found enlightenment through his own effort and founded an important community of monks.  And sure enough, most of the film is devoted to the ever-present monastic figures in saffron robes.

            Thus the film focuses on the man, Gautama, who is the center not of devotion or worship, but of the movement which is devoted to the search for spiritual freedom.  The man, his principal insight (that life is suffering and that one must stop clinging to transitory existence), and teaching (particularly the eightfold path) are the thread that link the role played by the community of monks and the dharma or teaching by which both monks and lay people live.

            In this film one sees "up close" the practice of the Buddha's teaching and thus one understands why the "three refuges" are the center of Theravada Buddhism: namely the importance of the Buddha, his teaching or dharma, and the community of monks, or more generally the community of believers.  Monks or arhats are taught to be self-reliant, like Gautama, and to seek nirvana, not by the help of a god, but by the eightfold path--the lay people are encouraged to seek merit and to share in the work and merit of the monks.  So, Theravada Buddhism insists that one achieve spiritual release not by relying on the gods, nor even on the Buddha, but by accepting the Buddha's basic insight about life and self and to reach spiritual freedom by following the eightfold path of wisdom, morality, and concentration.

            The film then is concentrated on the man who became the Buddha, on his teachings concerning this process, and especially upon his community of believers.  This film will contrast sharply with the one on the Buddhism of Japan or Mahayana.  This film then offers a relatively good view of the Buddhism of Southeast Asia, seemingly the earliest form of Buddhism, that based more fully on the original teaching of the founder.

            We will continue in class (next time) to discuss Theravada Buddhism, especially its practice(s) and moral views.

            There is no doubt that the basic elements of Buddhist thinking revolve around the paradigmatic influence of Gautama's quest for spiritual freedom.  His very life, as presented in the tradition, is the model or paradigm of the authentic quest, i.e., pursuit of the Middle Path.  It is a path that avoids the two extremes: pleasure seeking on the one hand and extreme asceticism on the other.  Having lived a life of luxury and material pleasure, Gautama, in his search for meaning, had renounced his princely, even family, life or world-affirming life, and had attempted to live the life of the wandering ascetic or sannyasin (he had even attempted the life of discipleship by following a guru for a time).  Thus he also attempted to follow a world-negating path.  This extreme too proved unsatisfactory and thus his choice of the Middle Path led to knowledge, caused calm, gave insight, indeed, brought about enlightenment.

            Basic to this way of thinking is the Buddha's insights expressed as the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path to achieve spiritual freedom.  I would recommend a reading of the "Deer Park Sermon" at this point (the text of the Benares sermon was given to you as a handout) and then the following introduction to and commentary on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path which follows:
            "Being a philosopher as well as a great spiritual pioneer, Buddha discarded all claims to special revelation and all appeals to authority or tradition.  He found his standard of truth, and his way of discriminating it from error, in the common reason and experience of men as they can be brought to bear on the universal problem of life.  And what is that problem?  Well, its nature is set, he was sure, by the harassing ills that life in a world of unceasing generation and destruction inevitably brings, and by the fact that in trying to deal with these ills men and women mistake the way to true happiness for themselves and for others.  But Buddha was confident that by the clarifying application of reason to the lessons of experience we can discriminate the conditions of genuine health of personality from their meretricious counterparts, and can likewise discriminate the qualities of mind that dependably further those conditions from qualities that fail to do so or are hostile to them.  Especially was he confident that a rational analysis of the basic lessons taught by experience can locate the root of evil as it lies in the inner nature of each human being--that root whose uprooting is necessary and sufficient if any person is to find true well-being for himself and become a source of true well-being for others.  This analysis yields the specifically Buddhist understanding of the universal problem of man, and the way of this uprooting is the way to salvation as Buddha conceived that goal.
            "The gist of the basic analysis is given in the famous sermon at Benares with which Buddha's sharing of his insight with others opened.  Perhaps the reader will comprehend better the significance of that discourse if I, in anticipation, translate what I take to be the essence of his meaning into more familiar Western terms.  It consists of the 'Four Noble (Aryan) Truths,' which I shall state as follows:
                            I. Existence is unhappiness.
                            II. Unhappiness is caused by selfish craving.
                            III. Selfish craving can be destroyed.
                            IV. It can be destroyed by following the eightfold path whose steps are:
                                        1. Right understanding
                                        2. Right purpose (aspiration)
                                        3. Right speech
                                        4. Right conduct
                                        5. Right vocation
                                        6. Right effort
                                        7. Right alertness
                                        8. Right concentration.
            "What is it that Buddha is telling the world here?  First, that by the mere fact of being born under the conditions of finite existence every living creature is subject to the evils of sickness, old age, and death, and to the sadness that comes when his loved ones are stricken by these ills.  These inevitable occasions of unhappiness (dukha) constitute the problem of life.  But they would not make us unhappy were it not for the blind demandingness (tanha) in our nature which leads us to ask of the universe, for ourselves and those specially dear to us, more than it is ready or even able to give.  Moreover, it is this same unrealistic and selfish craving which, frustrated as it inevitably becomes, moves us to act in ways that increase the unhappiness of others.  Hence this is the factor in us which each person is responsible for bringing under control, in order that he may be a source of true and dependable well-being to himself and to others.  Now, nothing short of complete destruction of this factor will do, for as long as any taint of it is left it cannot help affecting our action and poisoning our mental state.  And under the Bodhi tree Buddha had discovered that such complete destruction is possible; others, too, who have followed him have made the same discovery, and their achievement gives further proof.
            "The way to such destruction lies in treading resolutely the eight steps of the right path.  The first two of these are preliminary conditions that are essential; without a right understanding of the problem of life and a settled purpose to achieve the solution no further progress can be expected.  The third, fourth, and fifth steps constitute a pledge of one's readiness to order his daily life in a manner consistent with his announced goal, and constitute the moral foundation on which progress toward the goal can be built. Even while one is still a spiritual novice he can use words as a medium of thorough honesty, he can follow the basic rules of moral conduct, he can earn his living in a way that is ethically reputable; and if he is not able to take these steps what ground for hope can there be of his capacity to undergo the deeper forms of renunciation that will be required?  The last three steps are fundamental conditions of systematic progress toward the goal.  They culminate in the achieved power of absolute concentration, by which the mind shows itself completely free from the sudden promptings and unpredictable flittings due to selfish craving.  The person who has reached this stage is no longer subject to rebirth; he enters Nirvana, which is to be conceived not as sheer extinction but as the state naturally produced by the destruction of tanha--a state marked on the positive side by a sense of liberation, inward peace and strength, insight into truth, the joy of complete oneness with reality, and love toward all creatures in the universe" (E.A. Burtt, The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha, 27-29).

            We night note the following useful and insightful attempt to "flesh out" the meaning of the Eightfold Path:  "In the Eightfold Path, right action means abstaining from the three bodily wrong deeds: taking life, taking what is not given, and sexual misconduct.  Right speech means abstaining from lying, slander, abuse, and idle talk, the four vocal wrong deeds.  Right livelihood is abstention from occupations that harm living beings: for example, selling weapons, liquor, poison, slaves, or livestock; butchering, hunting, fishing; soldiering; fraud, soothsaying, and usury. Right intention is marked by dispassion, benevolence, and aversion to injuring others. Right views means knowledge of the Four Truths.  This explains the otherwise abrupt transition in the First Sermon form the Path to the Truths.  Another implicit connection is that the Path is the Fourth Truth" (R.H. Robinson & W.L. Johnson, The Buddhist Religion, 46).

            With this basic insight concerning dukkha and the cessation of tanha, the believer is ready to traverse the (eighfold) path to spiritual freedom.   Classical (Theravada) Buddhism provides the means, facilitates the process which leads to the ultimate goal or nirvana.

          We will turn our attention next time to a film on Buddhism, specifically Theravada Buddhism through a visit to India.

            Buddhism: Beginnings --> life, history, text  After having discussed the Hindu context of Buddhist beginnings, as well as the importance of other Indian traditions, such as Jainism, we launched into a treatment of the new tradition's founder--variously named Sakyamuni, Siddhartha or Gautama and, of course, addressed by believers as the Buddha or "Enlightened One."   Since his life and its paradigmatic importance are so crucial for Buddhism, I will cite (at length) a rather good, simple, but inspiring rendition of Gautama' quest and achievement of enlightenment.  (see below "A Spiritual Quest").

            After his religious experience he proceeded to address the needs of his fellow Indians by preaching (see the "Deer Park Sermon"--given in class) and to found an order of monks (and later of nuns as well).  We spoke briefly of his life and last days and especially of his influence in the form of Buddhist tradition, whether that of SE Asia (Theravada), of NE Asia (Mahayana), and that of the North, particularly Tibet (Vajrayana).  The early years, even centuries of Buddhist evolution are not well known but we do know that several waves of missionary work saw the spread and evolution of the Buddha's teaching as represented by the three types of tradition mentioned above (see map given in class as handout for the spread of the movement).  In class we will examine in some detail the first two: Theravada as it represents more closely the Buddha's original teaching (or at least that of the early community of monks) and Mahayana as one follows the evolution of Chinese Buddhism and its spread to the East and of course its flourishing in Japan.

            We only spoke briefly about the Buddhist scriptures.  Minimally one should note that there exit 3 greatly different lists (or canons) of sacred books in the three traditions noted above: the Pali Canon (representing "Three Baskets" of teaching or Tripitaka) in Theravada, the Chinese Canon in Mahayana (a vast, not particularly unified collection) and a more esoteric Tibetan Canon in the third major tradition.  These scriptures play strikingly different roles in their respective traditions.

            A Spiritual Quest  "Sometime during the sixth century before the Common Era a man named Siddhartha, who was later to be called the Buddha, was born into the wealthy clan of Gautama near Benares in India.  He spent his early years in the security and affluence of a prince.  Groomed by his father to live out his days in the royal style, he was educated, married, had a son and did what was expected of one who would someday become king.  However, around the age of thirty he suddenly became aware of the 'unsatisfactoriness' of life.  Until this time his father had protected him from the uglier realities of the world. But one day, during a brief excursion from the palace, Gautama (as he was also called) observed three striking instances of human misery.  First he came upon a man ravaged by the wrinkles and sufferings of old age; then he saw someone beset with disease; and finally he witnessed the body of a dead person.  His charioteer explained to him that these are examples of the pervasive reality of human misery.  On the same occasion Gautama also noticed a monk who had renounced the world and taken up a life of strict asceticism, and he marvelled at the state of peace the ascetic seemed to have achieved in the face of all the suffering around him.
            "Deeply disturbed by the specter of human suffering, Gautama began to rethink his life.  How, he pondered, could anyone be happy, given the threats of suffering, old age and death?  Not by any means a new question, since it is universal, it pressed upon him in a way that he could not ignore.  And he abruptly came to the conclusion that he could no longer persist in the luxurious style that had buffered him from the harsh facts of life.
            "According to legend, on the very night of his encounter with the miseries of life Gautama began his spiritual pilgrimage.  He took a drastic step that might strike many of us as curious, but in the story it symbolizes his special need to remove himself completely and dramatically from his former way of living.  He went to his wife's bedroom, bade farewell to her and his infant son, and rode off  into the dark.  He had made an irrevocable commitment to find an answer to the questions aroused by his experience of the negativities of life, and a complete turnaround seemed the only way to begin.
            "Thus he broke utterly with his past, forsaking his former life in what Buddhists have called 'he Great Going Out' or 'the Great Renunciation.'  Buddhist teachings hold that in some way or other, not necessarily in so dramatic a way perhaps, each of us as well can find peace only after we have broken from a life of clinging to ourselves, ambitions, things and other persons as though they were permanent.  And in Gautama's renunciation of an illusory, shallow and unsatisfying existence, his followers are given an abiding model that might motivate them also to undertake a similar renunciation within the special context of their own lives.
            "But where would Gautama look for an answer to the riddle of human suffering?  At first he tried what many a sensitive soul at that time would have done.  he sought out a guru or teacher who would fill him with knowledge and wisdom.  But his tactic proved fruitless.  As Gautama was to learn, mere discipleship alone would not bring salvation, for one has to experience life on one's own. Simply following doctrines imposed by another fails to touch you at the core of your being and consciousness.
            "Taking another approach then Gautama experimented with a severe spiritual discipline of the senses.  He joined a small band of monks, and for six years he followed the regime of the ascetics who fasted and wandered aimlessly about trying to purify their souls completely of bodily and sensual inclinations.  Legend has it that Gautama outfasted all the other monks in quest of lasting release from sorrow. But again, this self-punishing discipline failed to bring happiness.  Gautama remained deeply dissatisfied, still attached to the wheel of rebirths.  He must have said to himself: 'What more can one do than I have done in order to find peace.  I have tried everything, and nothing seems to bring me any closer to my goal.  Is there no answer to the problem of suffering?  Are there any other paths available?'
            "In spite of temptations to despair Gautama refused to abandon his quest, and this grittiness has endeared him to his followers for two and a half thousand years.  The elaborate descriptions of his perseverance provide for Buddhists of all types the basis for trust in the meaning of their own lives as a search for final freedom.  For those who have not yet found peace amidst their struggles the story of Gautama's endurance remains a bulwark of enormous strength.  His followers' drawing upon the Buddha's personal courage is not entirely unlike the Christian's receiving strength to face the trials of life by identifying with the sufferings of Christ, or the Stoic's gaining strength from the tale of Socrates' intrepid stance in the face of execution.  In all such cases the knowledge that liberation was eventually attained by the master provides incentive for the disciples to go forward in spite of frustration.
            "One day, having reached a point of near starvation from fasting, and realizing that the punishment of his senses had brought him no closer to his goal, Gautama went to a tavern and ate a normal meal.  The ascetic's life had failed to bring him release, and the act of eating signalled a new turn in his quest.  This act shocked his former monastic associates, and so they abandoned him. But Gautama, in his utter aloneness, journeyed to the banks of a river and sat down under a fig tree, or what has come to be called the bodhi tree. Vowing not to arise until he had found the answer to his tormenting questions,he fell into a deep meditative trance.  After a long period of time (one that has been highly exaggerated in the legendary accounts), and after overcoming nearly irresistible temptations to veer from his objective, 'enlightenment' came.  In a moment of sudden illumination Gautama 'saw the light' and found the solution to the problem of pain.  Henceforth he was the Buddha, the Enlightened One.  No longer tied to the oppressive cycle of rebirths, he had entered to the bliss of nirvana.
            "We do not know exactly what the Buddha's experience of enlightenment was like.  In Buddhist teachings, each person much experience it himself or herself in order to understand it.  Silence is the most appropriate response to the experience. Enlightenment cannot be put into words that would adequately communicate its content. But Buddhist tradition has handed down at lease some of the substance of Gautama's illumination in the formulations known as the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.  In the mist of his enlightenment it occurred to Gautama that suffering ceases and happiness begins only in the moment that one stops 'clinging' to things and even to life itself. Renunciation of clinging (tanha) is the 'way' to salvation.  And under the bodhi tree (the tree of enlightenment) this sincere searcher experienced the blissful results of his 'way of renunciation.'  Henceforth he has rightly earned the name of Siddartha, that is, 'one who has reached the goal.'  And the Buddha's having reached this goal has given hope and happiness to millions of others" (J.F. Haught, What is Religion?  An Introduction, 46-48).

            Hinduism: Basic Tenets & Practices  Gaining a solid, overall grasp of a religious tradition, especially one as diverse as Hinduism is not easy nor simple.  The following however will assist us in gaining a fair sense of the basic beliefs and practices of Hindu believers and how their quest for salvation (moksha) might best be explained in its great diversity.  We focused, in class, on three basic issues: the classic eastern (here Hindu) concept of the Divine Reality, the human condition according to Hindu belief, and finally the believer's quest for salvation.

            1. The Hindu concept of the Ultimate Reality evolved over the course of centuries from the belief in the many gods of the Vedic peoples, tribal gods (see the daily ritual exemplified in the Agnihotra) who were the object of extensive ritual to the complex concept of the Brahman-Atman.  Early Vedic practice focused on the performance of sacrificial ritual to the many gods whereby believers were viewed as strengthening the gods who in their turn strengthened nature, which provided human subjects with their needs (see RW 68f).  As Vedic culture developed its religious thinkers, in the Upanishads, began to pose multiple questions about the gods, the Divine Reality (this often referred to as the axial period in philosophical and religious development).  In effect this questioning can be described as a quest for unity.  The classic answer to these questions can best be given in the twofold description of the Divine Reality: the one Holy Power or Brahman, which circulates in everything and makes the universe live and move and the Atman, the great Self or Soul of the universe (see RW 70f and definitions of both terms in the glossary, p. 122).  Thus the gods, nature of the universe, and humanity find their unity, indeed their essence and dynamic order in the Hindu doctrine of the Brahman-Atman or Ultimate Being.

            2. The same questioning of the Upanishads (the end of the Vedas) also led to intense examination of what the human being's relation is to the Brahman-Atman or to the gods more generally.  In a manner similar to Jain doctrine (see RW 76f), Hindu sages confronted the issue of existence or life after death and the human's life experience in its relation to the Divine Self as related to or determining the human condition and thus provided as response the dual doctrine of samsara (reincarnation) and karma (the balance sheet of good and evil action).  Henceforth in Hindu belief the human condition is defined by reincarnation or the cycle of existence.  The atman or soul through successive regenerations (samsara), bound by karma (or the human's spiritual balance sheet), sheds (sloughs off) the physical or gross body for another physical body until the spiritual or subtle body is finally eliminated by liberation (moksha) and the atman merges with the eternal Atman (see class notes for visual representation of the human being according to Hindu anthropology).  Thus depending on one's light/good or heavy/bad karma one moves up or down in the cycle of reincarnation.  Karma, in a more positive sense, becomes the means for moving up the cycle of samsara or, in a more negative sense, is viewed and avoided as the means that traps or condemns the human being in the realm of matter or existence.

            3. In light of the above much of Hindu preoccupation with the quest for salvation or moksha (seen as release or liberation from physical reality) makes sense to the Western mind.  Thus in the search for salvation the Hindu focuses on the margas (the way of works/karma, of knowledge/jnana, of discipline/yoga, or of devotion/bhakti), that is, the four ways to the One Reality, whether this be liberation or moksha as participation, release, or union.  We have discussed these four ways in previous classes and refer you to your textbook once again.
                    On the way of karma or works as participation, see Religious World (80-86 and the author's great
                            emphasis on duty vis-a-vis one's caste, stage in life, and goals of life);
                    on the way of jnana or knowledge as release or withdrawal, see RW (86-89, described as a goal of
                            one's lifetime for release from ignorance and reality itself);
                    on the way of yoga or discipline also as release, see RW (89-91 presented as the choice of the wan-
                            dering ascetic or sannyasin or that of the more formal practice of yoga);
                    and finally on the way of devotion or bhakti as relation to the gods and union to the Ultimate Reality
                            through devotion, see RW (91-105 here described "as a helpful means of achieving detachment
                            from the world, but eventually [as a means whereby] both the gods and the world [are] left be-
                            hind or transcended in the achievement of samadhi" [p. 9] or withdrawal from worldly reality).

            Thus, somehow, the vast variety of Hindu thought and practice involves the Ultimate Reality, the human condition and the quest (in so many but unified ways) of the human quest for release from mundane reality and union with the Divine.  Hope the above is not too Western and philosophical a perspective for a description of the "basic tenets and practices" of Hindu believers.

            Conclusions on our Study of Hinduism.  At this point we could review later Hindu or Indian history from its encounter(s) with Islam in the 8th and 11th centuries (through 1750 AD), the rise of Sikhism, the Indian peninsula's Western experience under the British from 1750 to its independence in 1947, instead see our class handout and textbook RW, 105f and 111f.  This reading, after our brief comments in class, is left to you and your cultural enrichment.

            We turn instead to an overall review or treatment of Hinduism.  One way to review and perhaps summarize some of the major elements involved in the development, the expression, and the essence of the vast Hindu religious tradition is to borrow another scholar's brief but excellent "summary" of this material.  In certain instances, after having read and reread what is cited below from Fellows, we would certainly place more or less emphasis on given aspects of the tradition's development and stress some tenets more than others.  For example, I would place considerably more emphasis on the world-affirming nature of early Vedic religion and the importance, as a catalyst and contributing partner, of the non-Vedic traditions of India in the formation of Classical Hinduism; that is, Hinduism is in reality an amalgamation of these two major influences.  Additionally, I would stress that much of the variety and seeming contrasts, if not contradictions within the Hindu belief system, is due to the combination of world-affirming and world-negating factors.  In this way one appreciates considerably more the many positive, participatory rather than ascetic features of the tradition.  For example, the vast development of bhakti (or devotion) in popular Hindu religion is both a release from this life and union with the divine.  Also in this way the stages and the goals of life take on a greater role in the life of Hindu believers.  With these observations in mind, and bearing also in mind that modern Hindu belief and practice have been greatly influenced by centuries of foreign domination (first Muslim and then British), we now turn to the following summary description of the Hindu tradition.

           Summary   "Hinduism is the religion of India, and our clue to understanding it is 'oneness,' the spiritual oneness which unifies a varied subcontinent of 500,000,000 people.  The present religion has a four thousand-year history beginning with Aryan invaders who brought their god with them and introduced new elements into the ancient culture.  After 500 B.C., out of the interaction of new and old, came a religion with both one single, eternal, spiritual reality known as Brahman, and many individual gods with particular and more or less limited characteristics and powers.   This religion was first articulated by seers or rishis, whose writings, known as the Vedas, provide the basis for later doctrines and speculations.  It was administered by a priestly group called brahmins, who became the top level in a social system of grades, levels, or 'castes.'  The basic writings, theories, gods, and practices of this essential Hinduism were established by A.D. 500, although there continued to be developments and refinements of the basic pattern.  An extensive sacred literature accumulated, based on the Vedas, which were explained and amplified theoretically in the Upanishads.  Two great epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, expressed the more specific traditions and customs of the faith, and complex systems of technical religious speculation and philosophy were developed.

           "Fundamental to Hindu belief about the world and the divine powers is the conviction that one inclusive and pervasive eternal spiritual reality supports and extends throughout all temporal events and separate beings, including gods and human beings.  This reality is Brahman, and the essence of religion is to know that all people, including oneself, are atman (self or soul), identical with the objective, spiritual, absolute Brahman.  There are, however, many individual gods.  The principal ones are Shiva the destroyer, known usually through his female consorts (shakti) or the phallic symbol of his power;  Vishnu the preserver, known mostly in his avatars or incarnations Krishna and Rama.

           "The religious problem or situation of humanity is created by the fact that all soul entities, and thus human souls, are continually reborn after death, in a new physical body, by a process of transmigration. This cycle of rebirth, called samsara, is maintained through karma, a law of spiritual action.  Karma serves as a spiritual balance sheet which has determined one's present status of being and thus caste, and works to determine one's future birth.  The aim of religion, therefore, is to attain moksha, which is both freedom or liberation from the rounds of samsara as well as the attainment of one's true oneness with and in the absolute spiritual reality of Brahman.

            "There are four different margas or ways toward moksha, and these constitute the framework for different customs of Hindu ritual and worship.  One may elect to follow the way of knowledge, works, yoga, or devotion.  The last, bhakti or devotion, provides the substance of most Hindu worship (puja) at temples and shrines.  There are various occasions for public festivals, pilgrimages, and celebrations, and the obvious personal occasions such as marriage, which are marked by religious ceremonies.  But in all of these ways, customs, and occasions there is one aim or goal: moksha, spiritual freedom through union with the one divine and universal absolute spiritual reality.

            "The oneness of Hinduism in ethical and social terms is provided by dharma, the law of righteousness and duty for every person according to his or her circumstances.  Inasmuch as the point of dharma is the one, same end or fulfillment of moksha, it serves to guide all people toward the realization of human spiritual nature in union with the divine spiritual reality.  Whatever carries you toward moksha is right and good, and vice versa.  Under dharma fit the caste system of four varnas: brahmin, kshatriya, vaishyu, and shudra; the four ashramas, stages or orders of life; and the four goals (purushartha), each of which is a legitimate ethical guide and rationale"  (from W.J. Fellows, Religions East and West, 120-121).

           A Final Word.  You might now read the brief summary of Hinduism in your own text book (Religious World, 118-21) as well as consult some of the major terms in the following glossary.  On delayed quiz: focus on principal terms and concepts (see your handouts), on amalgamations, and on film.

            Amalgamation: An Introduction  A quick overall look at Hindu belief and practice suggests that, over a period of time, especially following the end of Aryan isolation (c. 500 B.C.), classical Hindu culture took form as the result of the combination of Vedic and non-Vedic influences.  As the Aryan population expanded and intermingled with the surrounding native population, a population consisting of Jains or Buddhists, the Vedic tradition took over some of the ideas and customs of their neighbors.   With this assimilation of non-Vedic influences the Vedic tradition emerged as a two-pronged religious tradition, one which focuses on the more clearly Vedic traditions of participation or a world-affirming view of life and another which opts for a more negative approach characterized as withdrawal or a world-negating view of life.

            Hinduism as Participation In the first case as people strive to live according to the duties of their castes and of their respective stages of life, pursuing the various goals of a fully involved life, they seek to obtain good karma, to move up the castes, and to achieve, finally, release from life (moksha) or union with the Divine (the last mentioned concepts will be examined at greater length later).  Our main concern here is the understanding of the fundamentally world-affirming character of the Vedic tradition and the part it plays in the overall formulation of Hindu religion.
                    The religious energies of the Vedic people were directed toward embracing this world passionately,
                     participating completely and joyously in all of life.  Just as their bodies are the means of the passionate
                     pleasure that lovers find in each other, so the material world was, for Vedic man, the means for achieving
                     his happiness (RW, 80).
By participation in one's caste, occupation, and stage of life one accumulates good karma and thus determines one's future incarnation.  Thus, believers work their way up the ladder of castes and upon reaching the highest, achieve moksha and so union with the Absolute.  The focus then is on world-affirming activity within the castes and stages of life with a focus on the goals of virtue, success, and pleasure.  Of course the failure to achieve good karma is the way to reincarnation at a lower level.

            Hinduism as Withdrawal In the second case, that of the non-Vedic traditions, one strives to withdraw from life through a variety of means: whether knowledge, technique or devotion.  Under the influence of Jain and Buddhist tradition, many Hindus
                    directed all their religious energies toward escaping the world, cultivating dispassion, withdrawing
                    completely, and renouncing all joys related to this world.  Just as the bodies of lovers entrap them into
                    passionate embraces that lead to further bondage and suffering...so is the material world the means for
                    achieving only bondage and suffering. The renunciation of this world was the only way to release
                    (RW, 80).
Release through the way of knowledge involves either mental discipline, the search for truth that releases one from bondage to life, or the insistence that the only reality that exists is the Brahman.  This view of knowledge is fundamental to Indian philosophy.  A second way focuses on technique or practical disciplines as a means of withdrawal, whether the complex systems of yoga or the way of life expressed as asceticism (whether solitary or in community).  A final form of release, perhaps seen also as a form of participation, involves the way of bhakti or devotion to a god.  Here too in considering Hinduism in its world-negating perspective, one must speak of karma but the concept becomes considerably more negative as one wishes to eliminate karma and thus to break the cycle of samsara or reincarnation.  In the case of the last mentioned, bhakti,
                    the devotional movements hold out the way of devotion to a god as the only way to release.  The per-
                    formance of ritual, or asceticism, or mediation, may all be helpful, but without devotion, claim the ad-
                    herents of these movements, all these other ways are useless.  Only devotion and the powerful grace of
                    the god can overcome karma and grant release" (RW, 92).
It is in relation to such devotional movements then that one looks at the vast literature (especially the classic Hindu epics, Bhakti Sutras and Puranas) and devotional activity dedicated to the gods Vishnu (and his avatar Krishna) and Shiva (see RW 93f).

            Karma-yoga Additionally, one should speak of a compromise between these two basic perspectives, that is, the way of karma-yoga which seeks release by outward participation tempered by inner detachment (see RW, 94-98).

            Thus, whatever the perspective (world-affirming or negating), or the level of activity (stages, castes, techniques), all Hindus seek release from karma and samsara, all the while indulging in various devotions, spiritual practices, and techniques.  So in conclusion we might again cite our text, in expressing the seemingly-confusing or perhaps contradictory, dual character of this religious tradition.
                    Hinduism, drawing on its Vedic origins, is a religious organization of life by castes and stages of life and
                    goals.  Drawing on the ascetic tradition expressed in Jainism and Buddhism, it also provides the option of
                    a religious release from life through religious disciplines of knowledge, or asceticism, or devotion to a god
                    (RW, 80).

           One should look upon the film on Hinduism more as a visit to India than as an aid to study that religious tradition.  The film does not pretend to offer even a rudimentary survey of Hinduism but presents itself as a visit to the country to witness Hindu culture and its religious setting.  Whether the film's narrator spoke of various gods: Ganesha, Kali, Shiva and his shakti, Vishnu and his avatars, of Sarasvati, or Lackshmi or speculated about the divine Reality called Brahman, the film was intent on raising questions for the visitor concerning various aspects of Hindu culture, whether urban festivals (puja) at holy places or the sacred Ganges River, whether about fundamental features of the tradition such as the 4 castes (focusing on the Brahmin caste), the 4 ashramas or stages of life (more on these), especially the enigmatic sannyasin.

            Such a visual tour of India assists us in grasping Hinduism as a living, exotic and challenging religious tradition with venerable roots in its Sanskrit past and its feet set in a formidable present as it confronts the modern world by means of various margas or ways: works, knowledge, discipline, and devotion. Seemingly the unifying element of the film was the eye of its camera (and aid of its narrator) as it reviewed Hindu phenomena--usually cult, devotion, culture.  We also caught a glimpse of the differences between the intellectual view of the educated (the young Indian philopsophy professor) and the piety of the masses.  This "picture" hopefully is well worth more than "a thousand words," if it sheds light on and kindles interest in the rich, religious and cultural heritage of India.

            Hinduism: Cultural Expansion and Non-Vedic Influences.  Again archaeology and linguistics provide a sound basis for our understanding of the next important step in the development of Hinduism.  After nearly a century of relative isolation the Vedic people began to expand, or more properly to intermingle with the inhabitants to the East and South (peoples often referred to as Dravidians or original inhabitants of the vast Indian peninsula).

            You would do well at this point to review our text book's (and our class notes') discussion of Vedic culture and religion as "world-affirming" and generally as the antithesis of local, indigenous Indian traditions (review RW, 64-73).

            Our focus today involves the two major non-Vedic groups, both of which had opposing, negative perspectives, Jainism and Buddhism, which left an indelible mark on the evolution of Vedic thought.  The following brief paragraph from your text book describes in a succinct, overall way the character of these new influences:
                    Fundamental to both Jainism and Buddhism is the belief that all humane existence, that is, historical existence
                    on this earth in time and space, is inherently, inevitably characterized by suffering; that all beings are bound
                    on the wheel of an endless series of lives and deaths and rebirths on earth; that each person forges the circum-
                    stances of greater or lesser suffering in his next life by his own actions in this life; that a person's only release
                    from suffering is the release from the human condition altogether, and that this release is to be achieved
                    through asceticism or withdrawal (RW, 74-75).

            Both movements are indigenous to India, the former a long-existing tradition of asceticism or withdrawal and of dualism and the latter an offshoot of Hinduism following the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, a century earlier.  Both contrasted sharply with the goals and ideals of Vedic religion; and both also aspired to religious and moral ideals which were attractive and inspiring to Vedic thinkers.  Indeed, "important non-Vedic religious ideas [from both traditions] began to appear in the Vedic religious writings, at first only among the intellectuals [especially in the Upanishads], but eventually to be incorporated fully and  taken for granted by all" (RW, 73).  Especially important were the concepts of life as suffering, samsara, karma, and withdrawal (or release from the human condition).  For a convenient contrast between these two ascetic traditions and Vedic religion more generally; see RW, p. 79, where one finds a contrasting table for the comparison between Jainism and Vedic religion and a brief discussion of Gautama' rejection of many features of Vedic religion as well as the extreme asceticism of Jain tradition.  In our next class lecture we will focus on the Vedic tradition's ability to synthesize the two (world-affirming and world-negating) perspectives into one over-arching tradition, i.e., the amalgamation of Vedic and non-Vedic religious influences (see RW, pp. 80 and following).

            Religious Writings and Scriptures of Hinduism.  Lastly, we should mention briefly the complex series of Hindu Scriptures and other sacred writings, consisting of sacred books or Shruti (Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads) and pious or holy books, the Smriti (whether epics, moral tracts or collections of laws or other popular writings).  The 4 Veda collections form the primary corpus of sacred writings: from collections of hymns of praise, to formulas and chants to accompany sacrifice, finally to charms and spells.  Each of these four collections of hymns has a corresponding compilation of priestly teachings, the Brahmanas.  The final collection of Shruti, the Aranyakas and Upanishads, particularly the latter, present the discussions and insights of Hindu ascetics whether "forest dwellers" or wandering ascetics (sannyasin).  As for the Smriti, the best known are the epics and the works on dharma and laws.  Careful analysis of the evolution of these various works contributes much insight on the development of Hinduism itself.  For example, it is in the Upanishads that one encounters (increasingly) topics of philosophical speculations as well as non-Vedic concepts (see discussion of RW, 70-73) and thus a better appreciation of the overall Hindu tradition's evolution and amalgamation of various concepts.

            A final comment, not made in class, is the fact that popular Hinduism will make great use of material from the Smriti, especially the epics (see class handout).  The most popular of these epics is the long Mahabharata, especially the section called the Bhagavad Gita concerning Krishna and the hero Arjuna (see RW, 94-98).

            First -- a brief preliminary note on the chapters of the text book (The Religious World, see pp. 2-8) and their structure.  Each of these chapters follows a similar outline and so allows for easy contrast and comparison between parallel components of each religious tradition (see text and class handout).

            Hinduism: The Beginnings.  The history of the Indian peninsula is a long and well-documented one.  Archaeological excavations by the British in the 1920s have shed considerable light on both the pre-Aryan and Aryan or Vedic periods of India's long history.  So to have a solid grasp of overall Hindu development one must have some sense of early Indus Valley culture and its greatly developed urban, agricultural society prior to the arrival of the Indo-European Vedic tribes abound 1500 B.C.  There exists today a growing appreciation of the contributions of these two cultures on the developing Indian culture and religion (see RW, 61-64).

            The principal contribution to what we now call Hinduism, however, owes to the Aryan invaders and their Vedic culture.  These Sanskrit (earliest recorded form of Indo-European languages) speaking tribes descended upon the declining civilization of the Indus Valley and carved out a vast territory for themselves in North-Central India.  They brought with them their complex pantheon of gods and particularly their keen sense of religion as the affirmation of the value of human existence.  Their religion was one of participation with the gods and with nature as well as one focused on ritual and human happiness.  I would note that they seem to have retained from the previous inhabitants (their new neighbors in the Indus Valley) some features of fertility religion (see RW, 63-64).

            For an understanding of Vedic religion one needs to focus on the role played by their many gods, as well as their notion of the Divine Reality as Brahman (indeed, as Brahman-Atman), their concept of "cosmic law," religion as participation,  and the quest for happiness (especially in the Vedas--RW, 65-70).  Finally, one gains a solid grasp of Vedic religion as a growing entity as the peoples settled into their new environment in India and as the priestly caste emerged as the dominant force of the culture (see especially the Brahmanas), as religious thinkers and "questers" sought unity in the great diversity of gods, rituals, and religious practice, as this religious practice focused more on asceticism and philosophical discourse (see the Aranyakas and Upanishads, respectively), and especially as the period of ethnic and cultural isolation came to an end c. 500 B.C. (see RW, 70-73).

            These observations are meant to be a guide for your reading of your  textbook and for an overview of our class lectures.  Continue to read from your text especially concerning "Vedic and Non-Vedic Influences" in the formation of Hindu culture and religion.