What is Theravada Buddhism?
John Bullitt
Note: "Theravada" is pronounced (more or less, in
American English) like "terra vodda." The "th" sound in
Pali is not like the "th" in "thick"; it's pronounced more
like the "th" combination in "hothouse".
The "Doctrine of the Elders"
Theravada (Pali: thera "elders" + vada
"word, doctrine"), the "Doctrine of the Elders," is the
name for the school of Buddhism that draws its scriptural inspiration from the
Pali Canon, or Tipitaka, which scholars generally accept as the oldest record
of the Buddha's teachings. For many centuries, Theravada has been the
predominant religion of Sri Lanka,
Burma, and Thailand; today
Theravada Buddhists number over 100 million worldwide. In recent decades
Theravada has begun to take root in the West -- primarily in Europe and the USA.
The many names of Theravada
Theravada Buddhism goes by many names. The Buddha himself
called the religion he founded Dhamma-vinaya, "the doctrine and
discipline," in reference to the two fundamental aspects of the system of
ethical and spiritual training he taught. Owing to its historical dominance in
southern Asia (Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma), Theravada is also identified as
"Southern Buddhism," in contrast to "Northern Buddhism,"
which migrated northwards from India into China, Tibet, Japan, and Korea.
Theravada is often equated with "Hinayana" (the "Lesser
Vehicle"), in contrast to "Mahayana" (the "Greater
Vehicle"), which is usually a synonym for Tibetan Buddhism, Zen, Ch'an,
and other expressions of Northern Buddhism. The use of "Hinayana" as
a pejorative has its origins in the early schisms within the monastic community
that ultimately led to the emergence of what would later become Mahayana. Today
scholars of many persuasions use the term "Hinayana" without
pejorative intent.
Pali: the language of Theravada
The language of the Theravada canonical texts is Pali, a
relative of Magadhi, a language probably spoken in central India during
the Buddha's time. Most of the sermons the Buddha delivered were memorized by
Ven. Ananda, the Buddha's cousin and close personal attendant. Shortly after
the Buddha's death (ca. 480 BCE), the community of monks -- including Ananda --
convened to recite all the sermons they had heard during the Buddha's forty-five
years of teaching. Each recorded sermon (sutta) therefore begins with the
disclaimer, Evam me sutam -- "Thus have I heard." The teachings were
passed down within the monastic community following a well-established oral
tradition. By about 100 BCE the Tipitaka was first fixed in writing in Sri Lanka by
Sinhala scribe-monks.
Of course, it can never be proved that the Pali Canon
contains the actual words uttered by the historical Buddha (and there is ample
evidence to suggest that much of the Canon does not). The wisdom the Canon
contains has nevertheless served for centuries as an indispensable guide for
millions of followers in their quest for Awakening.
Many students of Theravada find that learning the Pali
language -- even just a little bit here and there -- greatly deepens their
understanding of the path of practice.
A brief summary of the Buddha's teachings
What follows is a brief synopsis of some of the key
teachings of Theravada Buddhism. I've left out a great deal, but I hope that
even this rough outline will be enough to get you started in your exploration.
Shortly after his Awakening, the Buddha ("the Awakened
One") delivered his first sermon, in which he laid out the essential
framework upon which all his later teachings were based. This framework
consists of the Four Noble Truths, four fundamental principles of nature
(Dhamma) that emerged from the Buddha's honest and penetrating assessment of
the human condition and that serve to define the entire scope of Buddhist
practice. These truths are not statements of belief. Rather, they are
categories by which we can frame our direct experience in a way that is
conducive to Awakening:
1. Dukkha: suffering, unsatisfactoriness,
discontent, stress;
2. The cause of dukkha: the cause of this
dissatisfaction is craving (tanha) for sensuality, for states of becoming, and
states of no becoming;
3. The cessation of dukkha: the relinquishment of
that craving;
4. The path of practice leading to the cessation of
dukkha: the Noble Eightfold Path of right view, right resolve, right
speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and
right concentration.
To each of these Noble Truths the Buddha assigned a
specific task which the practitioner is to carry out: the first Noble Truth is
to be comprehended; the second is to be abandoned; the third is to be realized;
the fourth is to be developed. The full realization of the third Noble Truth
paves the way for the direct penetration of Nibbana (Sanskrit: Nirvana), the
transcendent freedom that stands as the final goal of all the Buddha's
teachings.
The last of the Noble Truths -- the Noble Eightfold Path --
contains a prescription for the relief of our unhappiness and for our eventual
release, once and for all, from the painful and wearisome cycle of birth and
death (samsara) to which -- through our own ignorance (avijja) of the Four
Noble Truths -- we have been bound for countless aeons. The Noble Eightfold
Path offers a comprehensive practical guide to the development of those
wholesome qualities and skills in the human heart that must be cultivated in
order to bring the practitioner to the final goal, the supreme freedom and
happiness of Nibbana. In practice, the Buddha taught the Noble Eightfold Path
to his followers according to a "gradual" system of training,
beginning with the development of sila, or virtue (right speech, right action,
and right livelihood, which are summarized in practical form by the five
precepts), followed by the development of samadhi, or concentration and mental
cultivation (right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration),
culminating in the full development of pañña, or wisdom
(right view and right resolve). The practice of dana (generosity) serves as a
support at every step along the path, as it can help erode the heart's habitual
tendencies towards craving and as it can teach valuable lessons about the
causes and results of one's actions (kamma).
Progress along the path does not follow a simple linear
trajectory. Rather, development of each aspect of the Noble Eightfold Path
encourages the refinement and strengthening of the others, leading the
practitioner ever forward in an upward spiral of spiritual maturity that
culminates in Awakening.
Seen from another point of view, the long journey on the
path to Awakening begins in earnest with the first tentative stirrings of right
view, the first flickerings of wisdom by which one recognizes both the validity
of the first Noble Truth and the inevitability of the law of kamma (Sanskrit:
karma), the universal law of cause and effect. Once one begins to see that
harmful actions inevitably bring about harmful results, and wholesome actions
ultimately bring about wholesome results, the desire naturally grows to live a
skillful, morally upright life, to take seriously the practice of sila. The
confidence built from this preliminary understanding inclines the follower to
place an even greater trust in the teachings. The follower becomes a
"Buddhist" upon expressing an inner resolve to "take refuge"
in the Triple Gem: the Buddha (both the historical Buddha and one's own innate
potential for Awakening), the Dhamma (both the teachings of the historical
Buddha and the ultimate Truth towards which they point), and the Sangha (both
the monastic community that has protected the teachings and put them into
practice since the Buddha's day, and all those who have achieved at least some
degree of Awakening). With one's feet thus firmly planted on the ground by
taking refuge, and with the help of an admirable friend (kalyanamitta) to help
show the way, one can set out along the Path, confident that one is indeed
following in the footsteps left by the Buddha himself.
Buddhism is sometimes naïvely criticized as a
"negative" or "pessimistic" religion and philosophy. After all
(so the argument goes) life is not all misery and disappointment: it offers
many kinds of joy and happiness. Why then this pessimistic Buddhist obsession
with unsatisfactoriness and suffering?
The Buddha based his teachings on a frank assessment of our
plight as humans: there is unsatisfactoriness and suffering in the world. No
one can argue this fact. Were the Buddha's teachings to stop there, we might
indeed regard them as pessimistic and life as utterly hopeless. But, like a
doctor who prescribes a remedy for an illness, the Buddha offers hope (the
third Noble Truth) and a cure (the fourth). The Buddha's teachings thus give
cause for an extraordinary degree of optimism in a complex, confusing, and
difficult world. One modern teacher summed it up well: "Buddhism is the
serious pursuit of happiness."
The Buddha claimed that the Awakening he re-discovered is
accessible to anyone willing to put forth the effort and commitment required to
pursue the Noble Eightfold Path to its end. It is up to each of us individually
to put that claim to the test.
Theravada comes West
Until the late 19th century, the teachings of Theravada
were little known outside of Southern and Southeast Asia,
where they had flourished for some two and one-half millennia. In the last century,
however, the West has begun to take notice of Theravada's unique spiritual
legacy and teachings of Awakening. In recent decades, this interest has
swelled, with the monastic Sangha from the various schools within Theravada
establishing dozens of monasteries across Europe and North
America. In addition, a growing number of lay meditation centers
in the West, operating independently of the Sangha, currently strain to meet
the demands of lay men and women -- Buddhist and otherwise -- seeking to learn selected
aspects of the Buddha's teachings.
The turn of the 21st century presents both opportunities
and dangers for Theravada in the West: Will the Buddha's teachings be patiently
studied and put into practice, so that they may be allowed to establish deep
roots in Western soil, for the benefit of many generations to come? Will the
current popular climate of "openness" and cross-fertilization between
spiritual traditions lead to the emergence of a strong new form of Buddhist
practice unique to the modern era, or will it simply lead to the dilution and
confusion of these priceless teachings? These are open questions; only time
will tell.
Fortunately, the Buddha left us with some very clear and
simple guidelines to help us find our way through the perplexing maze of
purportedly "Buddhist" teachings that are available to us today.
Whenever you find yourself questioning the authenticity of a particular
teaching, heed well the Buddha's advice to his stepmother:
The qualities of which you may know, 'These qualities lead
to passion, not to dispassion; to being fettered, not to being unfettered; to
accumulating, not to shedding; to self-aggrandizement, not to modesty; to
discontent, not to contentment; to entanglement, not to seclusion; to laziness,
not to aroused persistence; to being burdensome, not to being unburdensome':
You may definitely hold, 'This is not the Dhamma, this is not the Vinaya, this
is not the Teacher's instruction.'
As for the qualities of which you may know, 'These
qualities lead to dispassion, not to passion; to being unfettered, not to being
fettered; to shedding, not to accumulating; to modesty, not to
self-aggrandizement; to contentment, not to discontent; to seclusion, not to
entanglement; to aroused persistence, not to laziness; to being unburdensome,
not to being burdensome': You may definitely hold, 'This is the Dhamma, this is
the Vinaya, this is the Teacher's instruction.' -- AN VIII.53
The truest test of these teachings, of course, is whether
they yield the promised results in the crucible of your own heart. The Buddha
presented us with a challenge; it is up to each of us individually to put that
challenge to the test.
Source: Access-to-Insight, November 1999, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/theravada.html