Tina Theresa Hannah-Munns
Assignment #1 Oct. 2/03
Reactions to Buddha’s Story
Buddha’s reflectiveness and mindfulness are a combination of traits given to him from his own parent’s lives, leading him to the compassionate Dharmas he later taught. His story can be used as a lifeline into finding my own Middle Way in life.
Not much is written in Edward Conze’s book about Maya, Gautama’s mother, but what is emphasized is her reflective temperament. During her pregnancy, her desire for nature and for the “loneliness of which she could practice trance”(35) is later shown to be the reflective state that Gautama depended on to achieve enlightenment. The ease of her pregnancy and her resulting death shows a woman who completed her own purpose in life and remained calm (pure) even into death. This sense of being in the world would later be brought out in Gautama as he tenaciously searches for answers to his questions about life.
While Maya shows up in Gautama’s optimistic teachings, his father’s tenacity is expounded in Gautama’s thoughts and actions as well. With attention to detail and single-minded focus, Shuddhodana, his father, paid attention to Asita’s prophecy at Gautama’s birth and successfully sheltered Gautama from any form of suffering until he was in his late thirties. This is quite a feat and shows the devotion he has to his beliefs and ideals, the same devotion that Gautama displays to the world by “proclaiming the path of peace” in order to complete “the pledge to enlighten all beings he had taken in the past”(52). Instead of removing himself to Nirvana, the Buddha’s compassion reached around the world through his living Dharma (53).
Buddha’s teachings are accepted even 2 500 years later because of their practical application in everyday life. Whether reaching for Nirvana (53) or for an anchor of peace within the everyday stresses of life, the Three Jewels can be taken by any individual regardless of age, race, class, or religious creed. A philosophy that recognizes the reality of suffering (49-50) instead of fighting or denying its existence has made Buddhism an attractive and experiential way of life in North America; denial and the attempts at terminating suffering has only lead to more suffering, creating a hopelessness that can be relieved by accepting the Four Noble Truths (56). Unlike the commandments that provide abstract rewards and punishments within the Christian system of religion, The Eightfold Path provides clear instruction that can be assessed daily by individuals (56).
Harder to apply in daily life is the doctrines that Westerners find very abstract compared to the belief structures they are use to. The Three Characteristics of impermanence (49), dissatisfaction (50), and No Self (51), along with Dependent Arising (50), are hard for individual Westerners to grasp because of the social values learned and applied for so long. Having to re-learn a new way of being in the world is hard to do when the majority of society believes that achieving end results is success, rather than the process of change and surrendering to change as the real success. To accept change, let alone surrender to it, threatens many of our ideological systems that teach us to react by flight or fight. Being calm is seen as a weakness in character rather than a strength; the resulting illnesses and diseases from always fighting or running away show that we will always be sinners missing an unknown, or possibly unachievable goal.
This hopelessness is ignorantly projected onto Buddhism by people unwilling to see the freedom found within its philosophy. Individual and systematic egos are highly valued functions within our Western society and, whether the systems of our society work or not, our experiences will continue to protect the functionings of those egos. Being in this society shows me that it is imperative that I learn from other peoples philosophies to find the Middle Way for myself (46-47), before the extreme luxuries of Western society creates even more suffering in an already depleted world. As I learn, I will apply the dharmas in my life, teaching to others a new way of being and becoming a contributor to a more evolved society, rather than an enabler to our current one.
Reference:
Conze, Edward. Buddhist Scriptures. New York: Penguin Books, 1960.
