Buddhism had its beginning in India. An Indian prince, Gautama, lived in India about 560 to 480 B.C. (Exact dates are uncertain.) For six years he wandered in search of the secret of human life, and the cause of, and cure for, suffering. At about the age of thirty-five, while meditating under the Bo-tree, he received his "enlightenment." Buddha means "the Enlightened," and this became his title. This state of peace is called Nirvana, a word which means extinction.
BELIEFS.—Gautama "saw that the cause of human misery was desire, and that its cure must be the eradication of desire." Further
"By desire is meant the craving after wealth, or lust for fame and pleasure and everything else that binds one to human life and causes an anxious longing for what one does not have or fears to lose. . . It makes a pretty clean sweep of all human desires—good, bad, and indifferent. The whole outlook is different from that of Jesus, who discriminated sharply between the things which harm and those which are wholesome. Buddha could never have said, 'I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.' His whole theory was life denying. . .
"This system was based . . . upon the thought that man could not attain the ideal life in company with woman. She was a hindrance to spiritual attainment, and man must be celibate in order to make any progress toward the goal. . . . The end desired was a state of utter calm. . . . This was to be accomplished by discipline. . . . It was all to be done with no reference to any higher power. The Buddha has been accused of being an atheist and an agnostic, but . . . he took the gods of his day in India for granted and never questioned their existence, but they were useless as far as his purpose was concerned. What resulted was a system without a sense of dependence on a higher power, without worship, or prayer, or praise."—EDMUND D. SOPER, Philosophy of the Christian World Mission, pp. 579-181.
The Buddhist believes in the golden rule, and he follows eight progressive steps, called the "Middle Way." These eight steps are as follows:
1. Right View. A generous attitude, tolerant open-mindedness.
5. Right Living. No injury to man or beast.
6. Right Effort. Self-control and the will to cause good to arise and be fulfilled.
7. Watchful-mindedness. Guard the mind against desire or dejection. Prevent impressions which cause desire or dejection or other harmful thoughts to arise.
8. Concentration of Mind. This leads finally beyond the sphere of thinking, into trance states in which all desire is crushed and perfect poise and peace is attained.
Buddha taught nothing about life after death or immortality, such as the Christian knows, but his one great objective was to live here in such a way that he could attain to the state called Nirvana, which means oblivion to care, pain, and external reality.
There are at least two "schools" of thought: Hinayana and Mahayana. Probably Hinayana is the older. There is a Hinayana Canon and a Mahayana Canon. The Hinayana Canon has three divisions : (I) The Sutta-pitaka, or "Teaching-basket"; (2) The Vinaya-pitaka, or "Discipline-basket"; (3) The Abhidhammapitaka, or "Higher Doctrine-basket."
The Mahayana Canon does not ignore these scriptures, but it includes later writings which are somewhat at variance with the original views of Buddhism. The Lotus of the Law and the Paradise Scriptures are among the writings of this canon.
Hinayana holds no theory of God; reverences but does not worship Buddha; emphasizes salvation for the few by self-effort. This form of Buddhism fails to attract the common people. It is more for the monks and the nuns. It is not really a religion. It cannot satisfy.
Mahayana is more a system of religion with worship for all. It has many gods, teaches immortality of the spirit, salvation for the many from hell, and a happy life after death. This type of Buddhism makes readjustments in an endeavor to meet the needs of the present.
Buddhism is so divided that we might think of it as a number of religions, for many sects have grown out of the two schools of thought. But even though there is much variety in the beliefs of Buddhism, all Buddhists agree on: (I) Reverence for Gautama Buddha. (2) A common ethical background growing out of the moral teachings of the founder. (3) A pessimistic attitude toward human life as full of suffering and misery.
Sects in China and Japan
CHINESE MAHAYANA.—The Pure Land School; the School of Meditation (Chan sect from the Indian dhyana, "contemplation") ; Comprehensive Tien-Tai (from the meditation school).
MAJOR SECTS IN JAPAN,—Tendai (the Chinese Tien-Tai) ; Shingon, the "True Word" sect; jodo, the "Pure Land" sect; Shin, the "True Pure Land" sect, developed from jodo; Zen (the Chinese Chan, the Indian Dhyana) ; Zazen; and Nichiren. The teachings of these various sects are described in Faiths Men Live By, by John Clark Archer. (Ronald Press, N.Y.)
After Mahayana thought sprang up in India, the two "schools" (Hinayana and Mahayana) contended for a few centuries; then Hinayana withdrew and Mahayana was merged with Hinduism. After a time Mahayana died in India. Buddhism disappeared there about the twelfth century. There is no organized Buddhism in India today except in Nepal.
The first mission that we have a record of was to Ceylon in the third century B.c. From there Buddhism spread to Burma, Siam, and Indo-China, but some believe the Mahayana type entered Burma, Indo-China, and the East Indies from India earlier than the type carried there from Ceylon, probably during the Middle Ages. The type that flourishes there today is based on the Pali scriptures.
It is said that Hinayana entered China as early as the second century B.C., but it was so unlike the disposition of the Chinese that it did not meet with very great success. However Mahayana followed and flourished because it could be absorbed into their ancestral worship. The earliest date that we can be certain of in Chinese Buddhism is A.D. 65. From China, Buddhism spread to Japan.
Wherever Buddhism has spread, it has incorporated into its teachings the many beliefs and customs of the religions with which it has come in contact. The Buddhism that has developed in China and Japan, and which has spread from there to other places in the Pacific, is mostly the Mahayana type.
Many Buddhists also profess other faiths. In China, where there are the largest number, the followers are usually Confucianists and Taoists as well as Buddhists. The Buddhists of Japan are divided into a number of sects that are usually disguised forms of ancestral cults.
Buddhist lands today are Ceylon, Burma, Tibet, Siam, China, Mongolia, French Indo-China, Korea, Japan, and the smaller native states in the mountains between Tibet and British India. It is also found in some of the islands of the Pacific, including the Hawaiian Islands.
NUMBER OF BUDDHISTS.—There are no statistics for some localities where Buddhism is found. According to Edmund D. Soper, in his book Philosophy of the Christian World Mission:
"It is almost impossible to determine the total number of Buddhists. This is glaringly evident when Hume's estimate of 137,000,000 is set beside Rhys David's of 5 00,000,000. The disparity is caused mainly by the method of reckoning used in counting the Buddhists in China. If all the Chinese should be included because they are said to be Buddhists, the figure of Rhys David would not be far astray ; but very few men today would feel justified in doing that. There are others who claim that only the Buddhist monks and nuns should be counted, and that would bring the figures down very much lower and make Hume's estimate more credible."—Page 178.
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES: Champion, Selwyn Gurney, The Eleven Religions. New York: E. P. Dutton and Co.; Plopper, Clifford H„ Chinese Religion as Seen Through the Proverb. Shanghai: Shanghai Modern Publishing House.
