Burning Quest - Part 3

Here is a summary of sorts of Buddhism and how it has trickled down to what it is today.

At the time of Gautama Buddha's teachings there had not been an organized system of Buddhist religion (pages 75-77 of What Buddhists Believe by Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda).  As these ideas grew and were taken on by others and dispersed out to other cultures (from India outwards), those cultures gave the Buddhists' teachings their respective cultural tweak.

Because of that, although there are the basic characteristics of the original teachings, much has deviated therefrom and many other practices have 'adulterated' the original.  Instead of practicing the pure original teaching:  

"self-discipline, self-restraint, cultivation of morality and spiritual development...attention and effort were put into protection from evil spirits...black magic...sickness...the human intelligence...and has...polluted the sublime teaching of the Buddha" (page 76).

As Steve Cioccolanti, Thai author of From Buddha to Jesus remarks, Gautama Buddha's words were not written down until years  later (possibly 300 yrs later).  They were then written on palm leaves which eventually disintegrated, so much was lost.  Through ensuing years there have been symposiums where leading Buddhists gathered to document a more organized collection of those teachings.  Later versions thereof did lose major portions of the more original versions.  If I remember correctly, one of those more original versions is kept by Cambodians (it's been a while since reading this book so that precise detail many be debatable).

Sri Dhammananda says...

"...one must go back and study and investigate the original teachings"(page 77)

Originally they were passed down orally and memorized and some even feel that it is the spirit of the words and not the text that needs preserving yet having things written down can solidify the teachings and help others read and learn of the teachings.

As followers of Jesus Christ who read God's Word the Bible, we learn from the sixty-six books within the one Good Book.  The teachings of Jesus Christ and all He did while walking the earth in His human form were recorded faithfully by His servants, who were eyewitnesses, as they were taught by the Holy Spirit of God.  Some say that as early as twelve years after Jesus ascended back to Heaven that some of the Gospels were written and that definitely before 70 AD.  There would have been those still living who could verify what was written; in so doing the accuracy of the words, works and events were preserved.

The Tripitaka is one of the Buddhist's sacred texts which comes in three sections (or baskets):  Disciple (Vinaya Pitaka) showing how to live ones life among the Sangha delineating major and minor offenses; Discourse (Sutra Pitaka) which are mostly by Buddha but from others as well; Absolute Doctrine (Abhidarma Pitaka) which gives...

 "the analytical doctrine of mental faculties and elements containing moral and psychology and philosophy of Buddha's teaching as opposed to his moral discourses" (page 84-85; 89).

There are two main schools of Buddhist thought:  Theravada (established in Sri Lanka about the 3rd century BC) and Mahayana.  These schools have some differences but do have areas of agreement.  Some of those areas of agreement are the Four Noble Truths; The Eight-Fold Path; they reject the idea of a supreme being who created and governed this world; they accept the karma taught by Gautama Buddha; reject the belief in the eternal soul; accept rebirth after death; and that Nirvana is the final goal or salvation; among others (pages 77-79).

Theravada Buddhism is seen mostly in Sri Lanka, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Thailand and "customized" to the respective locale while China, Japan and Korea have greater leanings towards Mahayana Buddhism.

There is a third major sect of Buddhism, incidentally many Westerners are attracted to this, called Vajrayana *1 which is practiced in Tibet, Mongolia, Bhutan and Nepal.  This is the "most mystical and esoteric of the schools" *2  You've heard of the Dalai Lama?  This is where he hails from.

Interestingly, according to Sri Dhammananda,

 "there have been no wars of one school against another"! (page 81). 

 At least not with guns or weapons; perhaps with the tongue?  Verbal war?

The book What Do Buddhists Believe, written by Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda, explains mostly the Theravada persuasion as seen in the country of Malaysia, from whence Sri Dhammananda hails.  From this book, as well as from internet articles, come my gleanings and perspectives.  I know full well, I'm just scratching the surfaces of knowledge regarding Buddhism in general but as said before, this is my quest to have some idea of this religion and compare with those of the followers of Jesus Christ.  There may be times I need to stand to be corrected, and I apologize for any misinformation.  What gets written in this Burning Quest series is meant for general knowledge and hopefully kindle a quest of your own in seeking God's truth.

The major area which an individual needs to address is the mind, so says Sri Dhammananda and that according to Gautama Buddha.  He asks the question in regards to mind and matter on page 95 of his book...

"What is mind?  No matter.  What is matter?  Never mind."

The physical body refers to 'matter' while the mental forces refer to the 'mind'.  He goes on to say on page 96...

"...the greatest scientists have accepted that mind precedes matter in order for life to originate.  In Buddhism, this concept is called 'relinking consciousness'."

I'm not going to elaborate on that, except to say that it was God who created us human beings; that is 'matter'.  THEN He breathed into man and made him a living being (Genesis 2:7).  So matter came first in that sense.  However the mind of God was there before any of creation came into being; God's is the greatest mind ever and so the greatest scientists, made by God, are correct in that order.  Just mind that now.

God's mind is a marvel.  Here's some verses about God's mind from Isaiah 55:8-9...

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.  For as the Heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

For more Bible verses about God's mind, click on the link. 

As we move forward throughout this Burning Quest series take note that much of Buddhist teachings will be about the mind while God's Word directs us to the heart as well as the mind.  As we move along, note that the Buddhist does not believe that God exists; note also that it will be assumed that from God's Word's standpoint, God is.  Followers of Jesus Christ firmly believe that God exists and that He is.

                                                      ~ERC  2018~

References:  Please click on link to see respective reference.

*1.  Vajrayana Buddhism
*2.  Mystical & Esoteric

The page numbers seen in parentheses are from the book What Buddhists Believe by author Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda.   For other references please click on the links provided.