A modern way of looking at the Buddha’s timeless lessons
Mukunda Rao, in his latest book, presents an insightful interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings and tackles a difficult subject with great panache. Presented here is an excerpt.
Harper Collins Mukunda Rao Price: Rs 350 Pages: 192
The period between 800 and 300 bce was an era of great transformation in the history of humankind. Recent scholars have termed this period the “Axial Age” because it proved to be pivotal, especially in the spiritual growth of humanity. It seems that there was an explosion of energy in human consciousness, something analogous to the biological mutation that led to the emergence of Homo sapiens on earth 200,000 years ago.
During this period, in four distinct global regions, the world witnessed the presence of powerful masters: in Iran, the rise of Zoroaster; in India, the sages of the Upanishads (500–400 bce), Mahavira (468 bce) and the Buddha (563–483 bce); in Israel and Palestine, the Hebrew prophets; in China, Confucius (551–479 bce) and Lao-tzu (sixth century bce); and, in Greece, Pythagoras (582–500 bce), Heraclitus (500 bce), Socrates (469–399 bce) and Plato (427–347 bce).Their penetrating insights into the human condition and the nature of reality triggered a shift in human consciousness. The result was the development of new religions and philosophical systems that continue to challenge and inspire humanity to this day. This narrative, however, focuses on the Buddha, for in his life and teaching, in the full awakening of the human being, we witness the culmination of centuries of spiritual development.
As you will probably know, “Buddha” was not a name as such, but became the term for the person who was once called Siddhartha Gautama. “Buddha” means the one who has awakened from ignorance and is free from fear and desire, from gods and goals, from a dualistic mode of living in the world. The Buddha is he who functions in the state of nirvana or what U.G. Krishnamurti calls the “natural state”.
But what was this Buddha like? How was he different from Siddhartha Gautama, the son of King Suddhodana? Was he a superman? Was he a “mutant”, an avatar or a sage like Ramana Maharshi and U.G. Krishnamurti? Was he the dry, humourless person he is often portrayed to be in traditional texts? Did he believe in reincarnation? Did he really start the sangha of bhikkhus and encourage conversions?
It may be difficult to imagine what the Buddha was actually like as a person but it is not impossible. The sources we have for our study are the numerous discourses and legends of the Buddha as found in the Pali canon, Lalitavistara (third century ce), Nidanakatha (fifth century ce) and Ashvaghosha’s Buddhacharita ( second century ce). These works are embellished with supernatural events and mythical and metaphysical narratives, but they are thankfully also interspersed with the more mundane and historically probable events of the Buddha’s life. It is indeed tricky to pinpoint and assert that this is exactly how the Buddha lived, moved and taught. Yet, reading between the lines, and in the light of the teachings and lives of sages, it is possible to ascertain and discard elements that could not have been a part of the Buddha’s life and teaching. Then, one can arrive at a fairly balanced and credible view of this great, aweinspiring being who walked more than 2,600 years ago.
Buddhavachana
Three months after the passing away of the Buddha, under the patronage of King Ajatashatru, about 500 monks are believed to have held a council at Rajagriha in order to recall and collate the Buddhavachana, the Buddha’s words. The council was convened by Mahakasyapa, one of the chief disciples of the Buddha who became the leader of the community of monks after the Buddha’s death.
In this extraordinary gathering of Buddhist monks, legend holds that a monk called Upali, who had complete knowledge of the Buddha’s rules of monastic conduct, presented these rules to the assembly. Ananda, cousin and constant companion of the Buddha for more than thirty years and known for his prodigious memory, recited all of the Buddha’s sermons. The council devised a system of communal recitation, what is generally called an oral tradition, to retain and pass on the teaching.
Then it was only in the first century bce in Sri Lanka that the discourses were written down in Pali in the form of anthologies. These anthologies were referred to as Tripitaka, the three “baskets” or collections of the Buddha’s words: Sutta Pitaka, the basket of Discourses; Vinaya Pitaka, the basket of Disciplines; and Abhidamma Pitaka, the basket of Higher Knowledge, containing philosophical and doctrinal analyses of the teaching.
About a hundred years later, the second council was held at Vesali. This was mainly to discuss certain serious differences that arose within the Buddhist order over the practices and inter- pretations of the Buddha’s teachings. The orthodox followers of the Buddha believed that the monks of Vaisali were taking liberties with the rules prescribed in the Vinaya Pitaka. The council discussed the matter at length but could not reach an agreement. This resulted in a great schism within the order and led to the formation of two divergent schools: the Sthaviravadins, who advocated a strict adherence to the early tradition of Buddhism and compliance with the ‘original’ teachings of the Buddha; and the Mahasamghikas, who did not find any problem in having a liberal attitude towards the rules prescribed in the Pitakas.
The third Buddhist council (250 bce) was held under the Mauryan King Ashoka at Pataliputra. The fourth one (first to second centuries ce) took place in Kanishka, the fifth (1871) and the sixth (1954) in Burma (Myanmar). With the exception of the first council, the later councils were ridden with controversies, a conflict of interests, allegations of corruption and deviations from the original path laid down by the Buddha; in short, a betrayal of the Buddhavachana. Given the history of religions and the creation of different sects in every religion over time, it is unsurprising that so many Buddhist councils had to be held over the centuries, where the way was doctrinally split into innumerable sects, each one claiming to be true to the Buddhavachana. Extracted with permission from The Buddha: An alternative narrative of his life and teaching, by Mukunda Rao, published by Harper Collins