Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautama?

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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Kusala
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by Kusala »

clw_uk wrote:Why do Buddhists, at least on internet discussion forums, always revert back to the first Arahant in india (siddhartha gautama) instead of referring to modern day arahants?

IMO we can take the core teachings from siddhartha and gain better elaborations from modern ajahans (such as Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Sumedho and Ajhan Buddhadasa) since they communicate via our modern languages and use our modern terms and concepts

After all there was never only one "person" enlightened


Thoughts?
This says it all, "The Buddha foresaw that people would introduce what he called 'synthetic Dhamma' - and when that happened, he said, the true Dhamma would disappear (SN 16:13). He compared the process to what happens when a wooden drum develops a crack, into which a peg is inserted, and then another crack, into which another peg is inserted, and so on until nothing is left of the original drum-body. All that remains is a mass of pegs, which cannot come near to producing the sound of the original drum (SN 20:7). "
"He, the Blessed One, is indeed the Noble Lord, the Perfectly Enlightened One;
He is impeccable in conduct and understanding, the Serene One, the Knower of the Worlds;
He trains perfectly those who wish to be trained; he is Teacher of gods and men; he is Awake and Holy. "

--------------------------------------------
"The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One,
Apparent here and now, timeless, encouraging investigation,
Leading to liberation, to be experienced individually by the wise. "
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Kim OHara
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by Kim OHara »

BlackBird wrote:If wish to hold on to the possibility that he didn't teach the Dhamma perfectly like he has said in the Suttas that he has done (The Dhamma is well expounded by the Blessed one), then I think there's still a bit of resistance to give him the positition in your life that he deserves - That of a seer who can guide you, as an ignorant and deluded being to the light of stream entry.

I don't encourage anyone to surrender their skepticism to the Buddha without a proper and thorough reading of the Suttas, but at some point I think it's necessary or further progress becomes impossible and one begins to merely tred water.

... So to cut a long story short: The Buddha has said he has known and seen the Dhamma perfectly, unexcelled by anyone else. He has said he is a perfect teacher, unexcelled by anyone else, and he has said he has taught the Dhamma perfectly, unexcelled by anyone. So to say that there might be aspects of Dhamma out there that he hasn't taught? No. There was plenty of knowledge the Buddha attained to but did not teach and he gave a perfect explanation why: Because they're not connected with the path leading to cessation.
Hi, Jack,
In my terms, that presents almost a textbook case of Buddhism-as-religion. It's your choice - always - but I don't like* the way it closes off the opportunities for enriching and developing our knowledge.
I think it is potentially unhealthy, in the same way that Islam's view of the Koran (finished, closed, perfect, unalterable) is potentially unhealthy (and I'm not really picking on Islam, here - some Christian sects do the same). There are a few kinds of problems with that approach. One is that texts require interpretation and therefore interpreters; another is that the audience to whom they were first said was living under very different conditions from us; another is that some parts of the teachings (Bible as well as Tipitaka!) have been shown to be just plain wrong when taken literally and have had to to be, um, renegotiated as metaphor to avoid making the whole religion laughable. (I'm thinking particularly of the history/cosmology sections.)

* I am saying "I don't like" as if it's merely personal preference but it's a bit stronger and deeper than that, including "I think it is unhelpful".

But to each his own ... which, btw, is another reason for not being too narrow about things :tongue:

:namaste:

Kim
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BlackBird
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by BlackBird »

I'm sorry but that's what the Buddha has said himself and if you want to call it unhealthy, then that's on you. I find it strange that you take issue against something the Buddha has been pretty categorical about. To do so really means that you value your own intellect and views as much as you do his, for if it were not so, you could not take that position given what he has said about the perfection of his expounding of the Dhamma, of his abilities as a teacher and of the perfection of the Dhamma itself.

You say that parts of the tipitaka have been proven wrong. Well I'm not sure which parts you refer to, but I only take the Nikaya's to be authoratitive, and to me, nothing in them has been proven wrong, they can be trusted from cover to cover.

It's one of those rare things that is quite black and white. I have faith that the Buddha was telling the truth when he said he was perfectly enlightened and the uncomparible teacher of gods and mankind and that the Dhamma was well expounded by the Blessed One, but I guess not everyone shares that faith.

I get that some people just aren't ready to accept that the Buddha's perfect and you and I are not, but there does have to come a time... Or else, as I said, you either start treading water, or you fall off the path altogether <- I have done both, several times, and I have seen the error of my ways - So I speak from experience on this one. Eventually one must put the Buddha above ones own intellect, we are after all, ignorant and deluded as to the real nature of existence.

Finally, Kim, having this view that the Buddha is supreme doesn't close off anything. My reading is as diverse as ever, and I am learning new things every day. I take mundane knowledge where I find it, and that's fine. I read a book on I ching the other day, it was good, I was reading passages from the bible the other week, and it was alright. But there's a point you arrive at where you're like - Okay - This is mundane truth, but what I'm seeking is supermundane truth, and so mundane truth has it's place, but it's not within the scope of the Buddha Dhamma. The Buddha Dhamma is exalted!

And yes, it is Buddhism-as-religion. If you've read the suttas it's hard to get the impression the Buddha wanted it any other way. If you want to be secular, and mix and match religious ideas that's fine, it's your life, but don't call mine unhealthy, because the Buddha would speak in praise of it. He was quite categorically in favour of saddha.

What is Saddha?

faith, confidence.

A Buddhist is said to have faith if "he believes in the Perfect One's (the Buddha's) Enlightenment" (M 53; A.V, 2)

Seemingly one would struggle to think of the Buddha as perfectly enlightened (or as the Perfect One for that matter) if they did not hold that he has primacy over all other teachers. Could one really be said to have faith at all?

It's funny, I sort of get the feeling that practising the Buddha's teachings the way the Buddha intended is something that's a little bit under fire here.

:anjali:
Last edited by BlackBird on Sun Jul 07, 2013 12:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher's message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
'The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I." - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta

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reflection
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by reflection »

To trust the suttas blindly is to trust mount Meru is the center of the universe and a lot of other stuff like that. To each his own, of course. But, it's a plain fact that some (parts) of the suttas are later additions, not from the time of the Buddha. This is 100% surely the case because the various versions that survived are not identical. If they are not identical, there is almost no need to explain they can't all be original. There are other things that point to this as well, like more recent grammar, second hand perspectives in the narrative, etc. I'm by all mean no expert on this, but just to have a little knowledge about this I think is quite useful. So by all means the suttas are not a thing to be trusted blindly.

But then still the suttas overall are a very reliable account of the teachings. We shouldn't take them blindly, but it is the prime source where all later teachings are based upon, and so I think it is good people go back to these suttas. Of course I do support modern day explanations and even additional teachings; in many ways can they be useful and correct. Especially when talking about meditation it is useful to use teachings and analogies that fit better to the current time. And also on other fields can modern interpretations be useful. But if we are trying to figure out what the Buddha meant, those are not the best thing to go by.
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BlackBird
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by BlackBird »

Nobody said anything about blind faith reflection. My faith is reasoned in the application of the Suttas to my daily life, my bhavana and the wisdom that has arisen from it. Having faith in the Nikayas does not thereby equal faith in some idea about Mt. Meru. Furthermore you cannot say on good authority that there is anything near scholarly consensus that the first four nikayas have anything in them that could be considered a later addition.

Bit of projection being done here, and it's unwarranted.
Last edited by BlackBird on Sun Jul 07, 2013 12:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher's message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
'The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I." - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta

Path Press - Ñāṇavīra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli's Dhamma talks
Spiny Norman
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by Spiny Norman »

tiltbillings wrote:How do you know who is and is not an arahant?
Good question, and I suspect in practice it's largely a matter of faith. And what about when these various teachers disagree on assumptions and methods, which they often do - who do we believe, and why? It all seems very subjective to me, so I think there's a good case for referring back to the suttas in an attempt to understand the Buddha's "original" teachings.
Buddha save me from new-agers!
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Kusala
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by Kusala »

BlackBird wrote:I'm sorry but that's what the Buddha has said himself and if you want to call it unhealthy, then that's on you. I find it strange that you take issue against something the Buddha has been pretty categorical about. To do so really means that you value your own intellect and views as much as you do his, for if it were not so, you could not take that position given what he has said about the perfection of his expounding of the Dhamma, of his abilities as a teacher and of the perfection of the Dhamma itself.

You say that parts of the tipitaka have been proven wrong. Well I'm not sure which parts you refer to, but I only take the Nikaya's to be authoratitive, and to me, nothing in them has been proven wrong, they can be trusted from cover to cover.

It's one of those rare things that is quite black and white. I have faith that the Buddha was telling the truth when he said he was perfectly enlightened and the uncomparible teacher of gods and mankind and that the Dhamma was well expounded by the Blessed One, but I guess not everyone shares that faith.

I get that some people just aren't ready to accept that the Buddha's perfect and you and I are not, but there does have to come a time... Or else, as I said, you either start treading water, or you fall off the path altogether <- I have done both, several times, and I have seen the error of my ways - So I speak from experience on this one. Eventually one must put the Buddha above ones own intellect, we are after all, ignorant and deluded as to the real nature of existence.

Finally, Kim, having this view that the Buddha is supreme doesn't close off anything. My reading is as diverse as ever, and I am learning new things every day. I take mundane knowledge where I find it, and that's fine. I read a book on I ching the other day, it was good, I was reading passages from the bible the other week, and it was alright. But there's a point you arrive at where you're like - Okay - This is mundane truth, but what I'm seeking is supermundane truth, and so mundane truth has it's place, but it's not within the scope of the Buddha Dhamma. The Buddha Dhamma is exalted!

And yes, it is Buddhism-as-religion. If you've read the suttas it's hard to get the impression the Buddha wanted it any other way. If you want to be secular, and mix and match religious ideas that's fine, it's your life, but don't call mine unhealthy, because the Buddha would speak in praise of it. He was quite categorically in favour of saddha.

What is Saddha?

faith, confidence.

A Buddhist is said to have faith if "he believes in the Perfect One's (the Buddha's) Enlightenment" (M 53; A.V, 2)

Seemingly one would struggle to think of the Buddha as perfectly enlightened (or as the Perfect One for that matter) if they did not hold that he has primacy over all other teachers. Could one really be said to have faith at all?

It's funny, I sort of get the feeling that practising the Buddha's teachings the way the Buddha intended is something that's a little bit under fire here.

:anjali:
A healthy dose of skepticism is perfectly fine IMO. After all, we have the Kalama Sutta. That's the beauty of the Dhamma. It's all encompassing...
"He, the Blessed One, is indeed the Noble Lord, the Perfectly Enlightened One;
He is impeccable in conduct and understanding, the Serene One, the Knower of the Worlds;
He trains perfectly those who wish to be trained; he is Teacher of gods and men; he is Awake and Holy. "

--------------------------------------------
"The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One,
Apparent here and now, timeless, encouraging investigation,
Leading to liberation, to be experienced individually by the wise. "
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reflection
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by reflection »

BlackBird wrote:Nobody said anything about blind faith reflection. My faith is reasoned in the application of the Suttas to my daily life, my bhavana and the wisdom that has arisen from it. Having faith in the Nikayas does not thereby equal faith in some idea about Mt. Meru. Furthermore you cannot say on good authority that there is anything near scholarly consensus that the first four nikayas have anything in them that could be considered a later addition.

Bit of projection being done here, and it's unwarranted.
I'm sorry if I offended you, but if anything the projection will be on your side as well, because I didn't intent to say your faith is not based on anything.

But saying that something can be trusted from cover to cover is not something you can reasonably base on practice or wisdom. Even an arahant has no special power to say certain texts are original teachings or not. Sure, you may say, this part is in accordance with my understanding, but that is no proof of their origin. And also there will be things you will never be able to proof, for example because they were insights attributed only to the Buddha.

So how I defined "blind faith" is not that it is not "blind" as in that it is not based on any practice. It has nothing to do with that. But blind as in trusting them to be an original account, even if there are external signs pointing the other way, which I assumed you were doing when I read "they can be trusted from cover to cover.".

Even within the different Pali versions there are differences in the first four nikayas. So there is no need for a consensus here, because I suppose you can just check it. Admittedly those differences are small, but so to say the four nikayas have no later additions/alterations is already false by just that there is no one version of them.

Comparing it to other accounts, shows more differences. And there is no reason some of those other versions are less reliable than the Pali canon. So either way, if you think the Pali version is somehow a perfect account, that is something you can only take on blind faith. Not saying it is stupid or it will stray you away from good practice, but saying that if we want to know the most original accounts we have to acknowledge it may all not be in just one collection.

Of course, it takes another step to assume what is in the suttas is actually what the Buddha (and his first disciples) said. Would they have spoken in such a repetitive way or is that added later to be able to remember the texts?.. Did those who composed the accounts remember it correctly?.. But I won't go further into that now.

Metta,
:anjali:
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by BlackBird »

I''m going to assume reflection that you know all about the suttas were passed down from generation to generation: The oral tradition is extremely reliable. It is so reliable that we can be almost sure that much of what is presented to us in the first four nikayas is in fact what took place during that time, if not all of it. A multitude of different groups of monks dispersed to all sections of the country, and then to other countries altogether, they did not meet to recheck the consistency of their suttas. There they recited the suttas in isolation from one another, over centuries, and yet they all ended up so incredibly similar that the finished products were virtually indistinguishable. Given the size of the tipitaka, this is quite incredible, and speaks volumes about the accuracy of the method. The minor difference presented between the Singhalese and Burmese versions are as you quite rightly state small. So small that I would figure them to be immaterial when it comes to the discussion topic at hand. The Chinese Agamas make for an interesting comparison also: They contain 4 nikayas that are roughly the same in length as their pali equivalent. From what I've read of them so far generally speaking the Dhamma contained within is the same as the pali versions.

If you go to this site called suttacentral, you will see that virtually all of the suttas presented in the Agamas and also in the Tibetan, Sanskrit canons and the Gandharan texts most have parallels found in the Pali sutta pitaka. I have investigated all of the ones with English translation that do not have parallel suttas in the PT, and nothing found within was of a heretical nature, it all tied in quite nicely with the flavour of Dhamma to which I am familiar. To me this says it all.

http://www.suttacentral.net/


You didn't offend me btw, and I am sorry if I was projecting, it just seemed as though you were responding to my post.

Btw I will try and hunt out a piece of writing I read on the reliability of the pali suttas and how we can trust the oral tradition to have given us a very accurate picture of what the Buddha actually said.

As for the Kalama sutta Kusala, you must remember the context in which it was given: The Kalama sutta was spoken to a bunch of people that had had many different teachers come through their village all proclaiming to know the right truth, and had destroyed the faith the Kalamas had in their previous teachers, one after another. They had been bombarded by holy men all preaching a different doctrine, whilst claiming the other teachers knew nothing. They had become very disenchanted with samanas who were passing through, so the Buddha gave them a teaching tailored to their needs that would allow them to eventually find faith in his teachings, he did not speak to many other groups the way he spoke to the Kalamas and this can be seen by the fact that the words used in the sutta are not widely repeated throughout the Sutta Pitaka.

All the same, there are people today who are in the Kalamas position, and the advice to them is as good to some modern people (particularly those arriving at Buddhism who have become disenchanted with other religions) as it was to the Kalamas. But those that think the Kalama sutta is a carte blanche for skepticism of his teachings have made an incorrect interpretation of the sutta. It is meant that one first apply the teaching to one's own life and see their veracity before taking faith, but it is not a blank cheque to not have faith. Some faith is necessary beyond a certain point.

with metta
Jack
Last edited by BlackBird on Sun Jul 07, 2013 1:30 pm, edited 3 times in total.
"For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher's message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
'The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I." - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta

Path Press - Ñāṇavīra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli's Dhamma talks
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Mr Man
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by Mr Man »

Has anyone tried putting "Indisputable authority" into Wikipedia?
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

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The Tathāgata of the Nikāyas as Ācārya is sufficient for me.
I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.” – Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854

Secure your own mask before assisting others. – NORTHWEST AIRLINES (Pre-Flight Instruction)

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Ceisiwr
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by Ceisiwr »

Thanks for the replies, lots to think about :)
“The teacher willed that this world appear to me
as impermanent, unstable, insubstantial.
Mind, let me leap into the victor’s teaching,
carry me over the great flood, so hard to pass.”
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BlackBird
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by BlackBird »

ancientbuddhism wrote:The Tathāgata of the Nikāyas as Ācārya is sufficient for me.
Sadhu!
"For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher's message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
'The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I." - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta

Path Press - Ñāṇavīra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli's Dhamma talks
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reflection
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by reflection »

BlackBird wrote:I''m going to assume reflection...
Hi,

My nitpicking was to show how the basic assumption is false; that things must be an accurate account, that things must have been left unaltered. Because the same reasoning can be applied to comparing bigger differences with other accounts, for which I see no reason to assume they would not have be transmitted with attention to detail as well. There is no way we are ever going to prove which was the most original version, if we can even speak of such a thing. But if -for example- two accounts contradict the third, it's reasonable that on that matter, the third is not representing the original.

I won't argue it further because it is drifting off topic. If you are interested, I suggest to take a look at works like "A history of mindfulness" that shows that such issues are not insignificant matters, but can apply to core suttas such as the satipatthana accounts.

Either way, also from a practical point of view I find not holding to much to the suttas is useful because it can make you rethink things, or not hold them too tightly.

Metta,
:anjali:
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Mr Man
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Re: Why do Buddhists always revert back to siddhartha gautam

Post by Mr Man »

ancientbuddhism wrote:The Tathāgata of the Nikāyas as Ācārya is sufficient for me.
So you have had no need of contemporary teachers?
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