Buddha

the spiritual life cannot begin until people allow themselves to be invaded by the reality of suffering, realize how fully it permeates our whole experience, and feel the pain of all other beings, even those whom we do not find congenial p xxvii

When he looked at human life, Gotama could see only a grim cycle of suffering, which began with the trauma of birth and proceeded inexorably to "aging, illness, death, sorrow and corruption." p. 3

We are beings who fall very easily into despair, and we have to work very hard to create within ourselves a conviction that life is good, even though all around us we see pain, cruelty, sickness, and injustice. p. 4

Increasingly, people were aware that the gods could not provide them with real and substantial help. The sacrifices performed in their honor did not in fact alleviate human misery. More and more men and women decided that they must rely entirely on themselves. They believed that the cosmos was ruled by impersonal laws to which even the gods were subject. p. 7

There was a spiritual crisis in the region. The sort of disillusion and anomie that Gotama had experienced was widespread, and people were desperately aware that they needed a new religious solution. p. 10

Note: This sounds more like Armstrong's interpretation of events that what was really "on the ground" but then it does fit in with her Axial Age thesis

The Axial Age marks the beginning of humanity as we now know it. During this period, men and women became conscious of their existence, their own nature and their limitations in an unprecedented way. Their experience of utter impotence in a cruel world impelled them to seek the highest goals and an absolute reality in the depths of their being. p. 11

Note: This sounds good, but is it so? I'm not sure that this would pass muster with many religious scholars

in almost every culture, the myth of this primal concord showed that human beings continued to yearn for a peace and wholeness that they felt to be the proper state of humanity. They experienced the dawning of self-consciousness as a painful fall from grace. p. 13

The Aryans cultivated the drug soma, which put the brahmins into a state of ecstatic trance in which they "heard" (sruti) the inspired Sanskrit texts known as the Vedas. These were not thought to be dictated by the gods but to exist eternally and to reflect the fundamental principles of the cosmos. p. 16

It was said that at the beginning of time, a mysterious Creator had performed a primal sacrifice that brought gods, humans, and the entire cosmos into existence. This primeval sacrifice was the archetype of the animal sacrifices performed by the brahmins, which gave them power over life and death. Even the gods depended upon these sacrifices and would suffer if the ritual was not performed correctly. p. 16

Vedic faith was thus typical of pre-Axial religion. It did not develop or change; it conformed to an archetypal order and did not aspire to anything different. It depended upon external rites, which were magical in effect and intended to control the universe; it was based on arcane, esoteric lore known only to a few. p. 17

Axial faith put the onus on the individual. Wherever they looked, as we have seen, the Axial sages and prophets saw exile, tragedy, and dukkha. But the truth that they sought enabled them to find peace, despite cruelty, injustice and political defeat. p. 18

Historians and scholars note that al these innovative ideologies were created in the setting of the marketplace, which had acquired a new centrality in the sixth century B.C.E. Power was passing from the old partnership of King and Temple to the merchants, who were developing a different kind of economy. p. 20

By the sixth century, the essentially rural society that had been established by the Aryan invaders so long ago was being transformed by the new iron-age technology, which enabled farmers to clear the dense forests and thus open up new land for cultivation. Settlers poured into the region, which became densely populated and highly productive. Travelers described the copious fruit, rice, cereal, sesame, millet, wheat, grains and barley that gave the local people produce in excess of the needs, and which they could trade. The Gangetic plain became the center of Indic civilization. p 21

The cities were dominated by the new men--merchants, businessmen and bankers--who no longer fit easily into the old caste system and were beginning to challenge the brahmins and ksatriyas. pp. 21

In this changing society, the ancient Aryan religion of the brahmins seemed increasingly out of place. The old rituals had suited a settled rural community, but were beginning to seem cumbersome and archaic in the more more mobile world of the cities. Merchants were constantly on the road and could not keep the fires burning, nor could they observed the uposatha days. Since these new men fit less and less easily into the caste system, many of them felt that they had been pushed into a spiritual vacuum. p 23

In the towns, people were beginning to realize that their actions (kamma) had long-term consequences, which they themselves might not experience but which they could see would affect future generations. The doctrine of reincarnation, which was of quite recent origin, suited this world much better than did the old Vedic faith. The theory of kamma stated that we had nobody to blame for our fate but ourselves and that our actions would reverberate in the very distant future. True, kamma could not release human beings from the wearisome round of samsara, but good kamma would yield a valuable return since it ensured a more enjoyable existence next time. p. 24

Shortly before Gotama's birth, a circle of sages in the regions to the west of the Gangetic plain staged a secret rebellion against the old Vedic faith. They began to create a series of texts which were passed secretly from master to pupil. These new scriptures were called the Upanisads, a title which stressed the esoteric nature of this revolutionary lore, since it derived from the Sanskrit apa-ni-sad (to sit near). The Upanisads ostensibly relied upon the old Vedas, but reinterpreted them, giving them a more spiritual and interiorized significance; this marked the beginning of the tradition now known as Hinduism, another of the great religions formed during the Axial Age. p. 25

by dint of the Upanisadic disciplines, a practitioner would find that brahman was present in the core of his own being. Salvation lay not in animal sacrifice, as the brahmins had taught, but in the spiritual realization that brahman, the absolute, eternal reality that is higher even that the gods, was identical to one's own deepest Self (atman). p. 25

once you understood that the Absolute was in everything, including yourself, there was no need for a priestly elite. People could find the ultimate for themselves, without cruel, pointless sacrifices, within their own being. p. 26

But the sages of the Upanisads were not alone in the rejection of the old faith of the brahmins. In the eastern part of the Gangetic region, most of the monks and ascetics who lived in the forest were unfamiliar with the spirituality of the Upanisads, which was still an underground, esoteric faith centered in the western plains. p. 26

Here…people were less interested in metaphysical speculation about the nature of ultimate reality and more concerned with personal liberation. p. 27

The doctrine of the Self was attractive because it meant that the liberation from the suffering of life was clearly within reach and required no priestly intermediaries. It also suited the individualism of the new society and its cult of self-reliance. Once a monk had found his real Self, he would understand at a profound level that pain and death were not the last words about the human condition. p. 27

The spirituality of the eastern Gangetic region was much more populist. In the west, the Upanisadic sages guarded their doctrines from the masses; in the east, these questions were eagerly debated by the people. p. 27

At the start of his quest, an aspirant went through a ceremony known as the Pabbajja ("Going Forth"): he had become a person who had literally walked out of Aryan society. The ritual required that the renunciant remove all the external signs of his caste and throw the utensils used in sacrifice into the fire. Henceforth, he would be called a Sannyasin ("Caster-Off"), and his yellow robe became the insignia of his rebellion. Finally, the new monk ritually and symbolically swallowed the sacred fire, as a way, perhaps, of declaring his choice of a more interior religion. p. 28

The monks, however, cast aside these duties and pursued a radical freedom. They had left behind the structured space of the home for the untamed forests; they were no longer subject to the constraints of caste, no longer debarred from any activity by the accident of their birth. Like the merchant, they were mobile and could roam the world at will, responsible to nobody but themselves. Like the merchants, therefore, they were the new men of the era, whose whole lifestyle expressed the heightened sense of individualism that characterized the period. p. 28

It is only when people become aware of the inescapable reality of pain that they can begin to become fully human. p. 30

Gotama's pleasure-palace is a striking image of a mind in denial. As long as we persist in closing our minds and hearts to the universal pain, which surrounds us on all sides, we remain locked in an undeveloped version of ourselves, incapable of growth and spiritual insight. p 31

The veil that had concealed life's pain had been torn aside and the universe seemed a prison of pain and pointlessness. p. 33

He would spend most of his working life in the towns and cities of the Ganges, where there was widespread malaise and bewilderment resulting from the change and upheaval that urbanization brought with it, and where consequently there was much spiritual hunger. p. 37

by the time Gotama embarked on his quest, they were becoming more organized and even the most uncommitted monks had to profess an ideology that justified their existence. Hence a number of different schools had developed. p. 38

the monks of Magadha, Kosala and the republics to the east of the Gangetic plain were more interested in practicalities. Instead of regarding ignorance as the chief cause of dukkha, they saw desire (tanha) as the chief culprit. p. 39

The monks of the eastern Ganges were convinced that it was this thirsty tanha that kept people bound to samsara. They reasoned that ll our actions were, to an extent, inspired by desire. p. 39

our desires impelled us to act, so, the monks concluded, if we could eliminate tanha from our hearts and minds, we would perform fewer kamma. But a householder had no chance of ridding himself of desire. His whole life consisted of one doomed activity after another. p. 40

Indeed, without tanha and the actions (kamma) that resulted from it, society would come to a halt. A householder's life, dominated as it was by lust, greed and ambition, compelled him to activities that bound him to the web of existence: inevitably, he would be born again to endure another life of pain. p. 40

even though he performed fewer kamma, the monk still experienced desires which tied him to this life. Even the most committed monk knew that he had not liberated himself from craving. p. 41

A teacher developed a dhamma, a system of doctrine and discipline, which, he believed, would deal with these intractable difficulties. He then gathered a group of disciples, and formed what was known as a sangha or gana (old Vedic terms for tribal groupings in the region). p. 41

There was nothing to stop a monk from dropping his teacher as soon as he found a more congenial dhamma, and the monks seemed to shop around to find the best teacher they could. p. 41

Religious knowledge in India had one criterion: did it work? Would it transform an individual, mitigate the pain of life, bring peace and hope of final release. Nobody was interested in metaphysical doctrine for its own sake. A dhamma had to have a practical orientation; nearly all the ideologies of the forest-monks, for example, tried to mitigate the aggression of the new society, promoting the ethic of ahimsa (harmlessness), which advocated gentleness and affability. p. 42

Thus the Ajivakas…denied the current theory of kamma, they believed that everybody would eventually enjoy liberation from samsara, even though this process could take thousands of years. p. 43

the Materialists…denied the doctrine of reincarnation, arguing that since human beings were wholly physical creatures, they would simply return to the elements after death. p. 43

the Skeptics rejected the possibility of any final truth and taught that all kamma should aim at cultivating friendship and pace of mind. Since al truth was relative, discussion could only lead to acrimony and should be avoided. p 43

The Jains…believed that bad kamma covered the soul with a fine dust, which weighed it down. Some, therefore, tried to avoid any activity whatsoever, especially those kamma which might injure another creature--even a plant or an insect. Some Jains tried to remain immobile, lest they inadvertently tread on a stick or spill a drop of water, since these lower forms of life all contained living souls. p. 43

Gotama...went to the neighborhood of Vesali...to be initiated in the dhamma of Alara Kalama, who seems to have taught a form of Samkhya....This school believed that ignorance, rather than desire, lay at the root of our problems; our suffering derived from our lack of understanding of the true Self. p. 44

The Self was eternal and identical with the Absolute Spirit (purusa) that is dormant in every thing and every body but concealed by the material world of nature (praktri). The goal of the holy life, according to Samkhya, was to learn to discriminate purusa from praktri. p. 44

the monk would achieve enlightenment, because he had woken up to his true nature. Suffering could no longer touch him, because he knew that he was eternal and absolute. Indeed, he would find himself saying "it suffers" rather than "I suffer," because pain had become a remote experience, distant from what he now understood to be his truest identity. p. 45

Note: and this is different from Mary Baker Eddy how?

To those who felt that the world had become an alien place, however, Samkhya was a healing vision, because it taught that, despite its unpromising exterior, nature was our friend. It could help human beings to achieve enlightenment. Like men and women, every single creature in the natural world was also driven by the need to liberate the Self; Nature was thus bent on superseding itself and allowing the Self to go free. p. 45

Gotama soon ...found that contemplating the truths of Samkhya brought no real relief. p. 46

Try as he would, he could gain no glimmer of his real Self, which remained obstinately hidden by what seemed an impenetrable rind of praktri. p. 47

it seems clear that the practice of yoga, often linked with Samkhya, was well established in the Ganges region during Gotama's lifetime and was popular among the forest-monks. Yoga proved to be crucial to Gotama's enlightenment and he would adapt its traditional disciplines to develop his own dhamma. p. 48

the yogin had to break all ties with the normal world. First, like any monk, he had to "Go Forth," leaving society behind. Then he had to undergo an exacting regimen which took him, step by step, beyond ordinary behavior patterns and habits of mind. He would, as it were, put his old self to death and, it was hoped, thus awaken to his true Self, an entirely different mode of being. p 50

Yoga can be described as the systematic dismantling of the egotism which distorts our view of the world and impedes our spiritual progress. p 51

The disciplines of yoga were designed to destroy the unconscious impediments to enlightenment and to decondition the human personality. Once that had been done, the yogins believed that they would at last become one with their true Self, which was Unconditioned, Eternal and Absolute. p. 52

before Gotama could even begin to meditate, he had to lay a sound foundation of morality. Ethical disciplines would curb his egotism and purify his life, by paring it down to essentials. Yoga gives the practitioner a concentration and self-discipline so powerful that it could be demonic if used for self ends. Accordingly, the aspirant had to observe five "prohibitions" (yama) to make sure that he had his recalcitrant (lower-case) self firmly under control. The yama forbade the aspirant to steal, li, take intoxicants, kill or harm another creature, or to engage in sexual intercourse. p. 55

He also had to practice certain niyamas (bodily and psychic exercises), which included scrupulous cleanliness, the study of the dhamma, and the cultivation of an habitual serenity. In addition, there were ascetic practices (tapas): the aspirant had to put up with the extremes of heat and cold, hunger and thirst without complaint, and to control his words and gestures, which must never betray his inner thoughts. p. 56

Gotama was then ready for the first of the truly yogic disciplines: asana, the physical posture that is characteristic of yoga. Each one of these methods entailed a denial of a natural human tendency and demonstrated the yogin's principled refusal of the world. In asana, he learned to cut the link between his mind and his senses by refusing to move. p. 56

in asana, the yogin is so motionless that he seems more like a statue or a plant than a human being. Once mastered, however, the unnatural stillness mirrors the interior tranquility that he is trying to achieve. p. 56

Next, the yogin refuses to breathe. Respiration is probably the most fundamental, automatic and instinctive of our bodily functions and absolutely essential to life ...Not only did the refusal to breathe show the yogin's radical denial of the world; from the start, pranayama was found to have a profound effect on his mental state. In the early stages, aspirants still find that it brings on a sensation comparable to the effect of music, especially when played by oneself: there is a feeling of grandeur, expansiveness and calm nobility. It seems as though one is taking possession of one's own body. p. 57

Once Gotama had mastered these physical disciplines, he was ready for the mental exercise of ekagrata: concentration "on a single point." In this, the yogin refused to think....In dharana (concentration) he was taught to visualize the Self in the ground of his being p. 57

Each dharana was supposed to last for twelve pranayamas; and after twelve dharanas the yogin had sunk so deeply into himself that he spontaneously attained a state of "trance" (dhyana; in Pali, jhana). p. 58

Because he had suppressed his memory and the flood of undisciplined personal associations that an object usually evoked, he was no longer distracted from it to his own concerns, he did not subjectivize it, but could see it "as it really was," an important phrase for yogins. The "I" was beginning to disappear from his thinking, and the object was no longer seen through the filter of his own experience. As a result, even the most humdrum of objects revealed wholly new qualities. p. 58

If he was really skilled, he could go beyond the jhanas, and enter a series of four ayatanas (meditative states) that were so intense that the early yogins felt that they had entered the realms inhabited by the gods. The yogin experienced progressively four mental states that seemed to introduce him to new modes of being: a sense of infinity; a pure consciousness that is aware only of itself; and a perception of absence, which is, paradoxically, a plenitude. Only very gifted yogins reached this third ayatana, which was called "nothingness" because it bore no relation to any form of existence in profane experience. p. 60

Gotama...decided to leave Alara Kalama's sect. Gotama had no problem with the yogic method and would use it for the rest of his life. But he could not accept his master's interpretation of his meditative experience. Here he showed the skepticism about metaphysical doctrines that would characterize his entire religious career. p. 61

The elevated state of consciousness that he had achieved could not be Nibbana, because when he came out of his trance, he was still subject to passion, desire and craving. He had remained his unregenerate, greedy self. He had not been permanently transformed by the experience and had attained no lasting peace. p. 62

The plane of "nothingness" was not the highest ayatana. There was a fourth plane, called "neither-perception-nor-nonperception." It could be that this highly refined state did lead to the Self. He heard that another yogin called Uddaka Ramaputta had achieved the rare distinction of reaching this exalted ayatana, so he went to join his sangha in the hope that Uddaka could guide him to this peak yogic trance. p. 62

Gotama abandoned yoga for a time and turned to asceticism (tapas), which some of the forest-monks believed could burn up all negative kamma and lead to liberation. p. 63

However severe his austerities, perhaps even because of them, his body still clamored for attention, and he was still plagued by lust and craving. In fact, he seemed more conscious of himself than ever. p. 63

He began to wonder if the sacred Self was a delusion. He was, perhaps, beginning to think that it was not a helpful symbol of the eternal, unconditioned Reality he sought. To seek an enhanced Self might even endorse the egotism that he needed to abolish. p. 65

"Could this," he asked himself, "possibly be the way to enlightenment?" Had the other teachers been wrong? Instead of torturing our reluctant selves into the final release, we might be able to achieve it effortlessly and spontaneously. Could Nibbana be built into the structure of our humanity? p. 68

Note: Buddha remembering his childhood experience of reaching jhana

What had produced that mood of calm happiness that had modulated so easily into the first jhana? An essential element had been what Gotama called "seclusion." p. 69

Sitting under the rose-apple tree, his mind had been separated from desire for material things and from anything unwholesome and unprofitable. p. 69

The secret was to reproduce the seclusion that had led to his trance, and foster such wholesome (kusala) states of mind as the disinterested compassion that made him grieve for the insects and the shoots of young grass. At the same time, he would carefully avoid any state of mind that would not be helpful or would impede his enlightenment. p 70

He must cultivate the positive attitudes that were the opposite of these five restraints. Later, he would say that a person seeking enlightenment must be "energetic, resolute and persevering? in pursuing those "helpful," "wholesome" or "skillful" (kusala) states that would promote spiritual health. p. 70

He resolved from then on to work with human nature and not fight against it--amplifying states of mind that were conducive to enlightenment and turning his back on anything that would stunt his potential. Gotama was developing what he called a "Middle Way," which shunned physical and emotional self-indulgence on the one hand, and extreme asceticism (which could be just as destructive) on the other. p. 71

He was no longer hoping to discover his eternal Self, since he was beginning to think that this Self was just another one of the delusions that held people back from enlightenment. His yoga was designed to help him become better acquainted with his human nature, so that he could make it work for him in the attainment of Nibbana. First, as a preliminary to meditation, came the practice that he called "mindfulness" (sati), in which he scrutinized his behavior at every moment of the day. He noted the ebb and flow of his feelings and sensations, together with the fluctuations of his consciousness. p. 72

But the practice of mindfulness also made him more acutely aware than ever of the pervasiveness of both suffering and the desire that gave rise to it. All these thoughts and longings that crowded into his consciousness were of such short duration. Everything was impermanent (anicca)....Nothing lasted long, not even the bliss of meditation. The transitory nature of life was one of the chief causes of suffering, and as he recorded his feelings, moment by moment, Gotama also became aware that the dukkha of life was not confined to the major traumas of sickness, old age and death. It happened on a daily, even hourly basis, in all the little disappointments, rejections, frustrations and failures that befall us in the course of a single day. p. 73

Mindfulness also made Gotama highly sensitive to the prevalence of the desire or craving that is the cause of this suffering. The ego is voracious and continually wants to gobble up other things and people....Henceforth, Gotama would usually couple "desire" (tanha) with "hatred" (dosa). When we say "I want," we often find ourselves filled with envy, jealousy and rage if other people block our desires or succeed where we have failed. Such states of mind are "unskillful" because they make us more selfish than ever. p. 74

On the one hand, desire makes us "grab" or "cling" to things that can never give lasting satisfaction. On the other, it makes us constantly discontented with our present circumstances. As Gotama observed the way one craving after another took possession of his mind and heart, he noticed how human beings were ceaselessly yearning to become something else, go somewhere else, and acquire something they do not have. p. 75

In his system, meditation would take the place of sacrifice; at the same time, the discipline of compassion would take the place of the old punitive asceticism (tapas). Compassion, he was convinced, would also give the aspirant access to hitherto-unknown dimensions of his humanity. When Gotama had studied yoga with Alara Kalama, he had learned to ascend to a higher state of consciousness through the four successive jhana states: each trance had brought the yogin greater spiritual insight and refinement. Now Gotama transformed these four jhanas by fusing them with what he called "the immeasurables" (appamana). Every day in meditation he would deliberately evoke the emotion of love--"that huge, expansive and immeasurable feeling that knows no hatred"--and direct it to each of the four corners of the world. He did not omit a single living thing--plant, animal, demon, friend or foe--from this radius of benevolence. p. 77

when he attained the fourth jhana, in which the yogin was so immersed in the object of his contemplation that he was beyond pain or pleasure, Gotama aspired to an attitude of total equanimity toward others, feeling neither attraction nor antipathy. This was a very difficult state, since it required the yogin to divest himself completely of that egotism which always looks to see how other things and people can be of benefit or detriment to oneself; it demanded that he abandon all personal preference and adopt a wholly disinterested benevolence. p 78

Note: And so, is this really what I want for my life, to be totally disinterested and abandon all personal preference? I don't think so, and so does that mean that Buddhism, in the final analysis, has no appeal for me as a goal in life?

The purpose of both mindfulness and the immeasurables was to neutralize the power of that egotism that limits human potential. Instead of saying "I want," the yogin would learn to seek the good of others; instead of succumbing to the hatred that is the result of our self-centered greed, Gotama was mounting a compassionate offensive of benevolence and goodwill. When these positive, skillful states were cultivated with yogic intensity, they could root themselves more easily in the unconscious impulses of our minds and become habitual. p 78

If taken to a very high level, this yoga of compassion (karuna) yielded a "release of the mind" (ceto-vimutti), a phrase which, in the Pali texts, is used of enlightenment itself. p.79

Note: so compassion, yes, and self discipline and control, yes. But loss of self and abandonment of all personal preference, no. Are these really incompatible goals? And does it really make any difference at 63 years old and sitting around watching our bodies gradually, or even not so gradually, fail on us? Isn't it really too late, regardless?

the effects of mindfulness and the cultivation of skillful states take time. Gotama himself said that it could take at least seven years, and stressed that the new self developed imperceptibly over a long period. p 79

He sat down, tradition has it, under a bodhi tree, and took up the asana position, vowing that he would not leave this spot until he had attained Nibbana. This pleasant grove is now known as Bodh Gaya and is an important site of pilgrimage, because it is thought to be the place where Gotama experience the yathabhuta, his enlightenment or awakening. It was in this spot that he became a Buddha. p 80

He then slipped easily into the first jhana, and progressed through ever higher states of consciousness until he gained an insight that forever transformed him and convinced him that he had freed himself from the round of samsara and rebirth. But there seems little new about this insight, traditionally known as the Four Noble Truths and regarded as the fundamental teaching of Buddhism. p. 81

The first of these verities was the noble truth of suffering (dukkha) that informs the whole of human life. The second truth was that the cause of this suffering was desire (tanha). In the third noble truth, Gotama asserted that Nibbana existed as a way out of this predicament and finally, he claimed that he had discovered the path that leads from suffering and pain to its cessation in the state of Nibbana. p. 81

If there is anything novel, it was the fourth truth, in which Gotama proclaimed that he had found a way to enlightenment, a method which he called the Noble Eightfold Path. p. 81

Morality (sila), which consists of right speech, right action and right livelihood

Meditation (samadhi), which comprises Gotama's revised yoga disciplines, under the headings of right effort, mindfulness and concentration

Wisdom (panna): the two virtues of right understanding and right resolve enable an aspirant, by means of morality and meditation, to understand the Buddha's Dhamma, enter into it "directly" and integrate it into his or her daily life p 82

Gotama insisted that this insight was simply a statement of things "as they really are"; the path was written into the very structure of existence. It was, therefore, the Dhamma, par excellence, because it elucidated the fundamental principles that govern the life of the cosmos. p. 83

The Buddha's Dhamma was essentially a method, and it stands or falls not by its metaphysical acuity or its scientific accuracy, but by the extent to which it works. p. 83

The Buddha's claim, echoed by all the other great sages of the Axial Age, was that by reaching beyond themselves to a reality that transcends their rational understanding, men and women become fully human. p 83

The Buddha was always quite clear that his Dhamma could not be understood by rational thinking alone. It only revealed its true significance when it was apprehended "directly," according to yogic methods, and in the right ethical context. The Four Noble Truths do make logical sense, but they do not become compelling until an aspirant has learned to identify with them at a profound level and has integrated them with his own life. Then and only then will he experience the "exultation," "joy" and "serenity" which, according to the Pali texts, come to us when we divest ourselves of egotism, liberated ourselves from the prison of self-centeredness, and see the Truths "as they really are. p 84

Note: And so this is the central revelation of Buddhism to me that a fellow traveller will never get there. What is the point if not the practice. Nor can I really achieve understanding without getting there by the practice.

Gotama had not masochistically courted annihilation but had sought enlightenment. He had wanted to wake up to his full potential as a human person, not to be wiped out. Nibbana did not mean personal extinction: what had been snuffed out was not his personality but the fires of greed, hatred and delusion. p. 85

The attainment of Nibbana did not mean that the Buddha would never experience any more suffering. He would grow old, get sick and die like everybody else and would experience pain which doing so. Nibbana does not give an awakened person trancelike immunity, but an inner haven which enables a man or woman to live with pain, to take possession of it, affirm it, and experience a profound peace of mind in the midst of suffering. p 86

Once a person has learned to access this nucleus of calm, he or she is no longer driven by conflicting fears and desires, and is able to face pain, sorrow and grief with equanimity. An enlightened or awakened human being has discovered a strength within that comes from being correctly centered, beyond the reach of selfishness. p 86

Note: and so is the Noble Eightfold path the only way of getting there? Does it really take the yogic disciplines of the Buddha to reach this equanimity and meaning and full human potential?

The texts make it clear that Gotama had come to this axis of the universe, the mythological center that holds the whole of the cosmos together. The "immovable spot" is that psychological state which enables us to see the world and ourselves in perfect balance. Without this psychological stability and this correct orientation, enlightenment is impossible: that is why all the Buddhas had to sit in this place--or achieve this state of mind--before they were able to attain Nibbana. It is the Axis Mundi, the still point of calm where human beings, in many world myths, encounter the Real and the Unconditioned. p 90

Reaching out with his right hand to touch the ground, he begged the earth to testify to his past acts of compassion. With a shattering roar, the earth replied: "I bear you witness!" p. 92

The Dhamma is exacting, but it is not against nature. There is a deep affinity between the earth and the selfless human being, something that Gotama had sensed when he recalled his trance under the rose-apple tree. The man or woman who seeks enlightenment is in tune with the fundamental structure of the universe. p 92

the new Buddha could not save the world vicariously. Every single creature would have to put Gotama's program into practice to achieve its own enlightenment; he could not do it for them. Yet at first, it seemed that the Buddha, as we must now call Gotama, had decided against preaching the Dhamma that alone could save his fellow creatures. He would often be known as Sakyamuni, the Silent One from the republic of Sakka, because the knowledge he had acquired was ineffable and could not be described in words. p 93

during his meditations and long preparation for Buddhahood, Gotama had opened his whole self to the fact of dukkha and allowed the reality of suffering to resonate within the deepest recesses of his being. He had made himself realize the Noble Truth of Suffering with "direct knowledge," until he had become one with it and integrated it wholly. p 95

One of the chief ways in which he had gained ceto-vimutti, the release of enlightenment, had been through the cultivation of loving-kindness and selfless empathy. The Dhamma demanded that he return to the marketplace and involve himself in the affairs of a sorrowing world. p 96

A Buddha is not one who has simply attained his own salvation, but one who can sympathize with the suffering of others, even though him himself has won an immunity to pain. Now the Buddha realized that the gates of Nibbana were "wide open" to everybody; how could he close his heart to his fellows? An essential part of the truth he had "realized under the bodhi tree was that to live morally was to live for others. p 96

The Buddha then preached his first sermon. It has been preserved in the texts as the Dhammacakkappavattana-Sutta, The Discourse that Set Rolling the Wheel of the Dhamma, because it brought the Teaching into the world and set in motion a new era for humanity, who now knew the correct way to live. Its purpose was not to impart abstruse metaphysical information, but to lead the five bhikkus to enlightenment. p. 100

"Letting go" is one of the keynotes of the Buddha's teaching. The enlightened person did not grab or hold on to even the most authoritative instructions. Everything was transient and nothing lasted. Until his disciples recognized this in every fiber of their being, they would never reach Nibbana. Even his own teachings must be jettisoned p. 101

His job was to relieve suffering and help his disciples attain the peace of Nibbana. Anything that did not serve that end was of no importance whatsoever. p. 102

People who had "Gone forth" into holiness, he said, should avoid the two extremes of sensual pleasure , on the one hand, and excessive mortification on the other. Neither was helpful, because they did not lead to Nibbana. Instead, he had discovered the Eightfold Path, a happy medium p 103

Next, the Buddha outlined the Four Noble Truths...these truths were not presented as metaphysical theories but as a practical program. p. 104

Kondanna had become what later Buddhist tradition would call a "stream-enterer" (sotapanna). He had not yet been fully enlightened, but his doubts had disappeared, he was no longer interested in any other dhamma, and he was ready to immerse himself in the Buddha's method p. 105

It has been suggested that in these more intimate tutorials, the Buddha was initiating the bhikkus in his special yoga, introducing them to the practice of "mindfulness" and the "immeasurables." Certainly meditation was indispensable to enlightenment. The Dhamma could not become a reality or understood "directly" unless the aspirants were also sinking deeply into themselves and learning to put their minds and bodies under the Buddha's yogic microscope. p 106

One of the most frequent subjects of Buddhist meditation was what was called the Chain of Dependent Causation (Paticca-samuppada). p. 106

On [1] ignorance depends [2] kamma; on kamma depends [3] consciousness; on consciousness depends [4] name and form; on name and form depends [5] the sense organs; on the sense organs depends [6] contact; on contact depends [7] sensation; on sensation depends [8] desire; on desire depends [9] attachment; on attachment depends [10] existence; on existence depends [11] birth; on birth depends [12] dukkha: old age and death, sorrow lamentation, misery grief and despair. p. 107

It should be regarded as a metaphor, which seeks to explain how a person can be reborn when, as the Buddha was beginning to conclude, there was no Self to persist from one life to another. p. 107

The Chain begins with ignorance, which thus becomes the ultimate if not the most powerful cause of suffering. p. 108

In most versions of the Chain given in the Pali texts, the second link is not kamma but the more difficult term sankhara (formation). But the two words both derive from the same verbal root: kr (to do). Sankhara has been somewhat clumsily translated: "states or things being formed or prepared." Thus our deeds (kamma) are preparing the "consciousness" for a future existence; they are forming and conditioning it. p. 109

There are no fixed entities in the Chain. Each link depends upon another and leads directly to something else. It is a perfect expression of the "becoming" which the Buddha saw as an inescapable fact of human life. We are always trying to become something different, striving for a new mode of being, and indeed cannot remain in one state for long. Each sankhara gives place to the next; each state is simply the prelude to another. Nothing in life can, therefore, be regarded as stable. A person should be regarded as a process, no an unchangeable entity. p. 109

This constant self-appraisal and attention to the fluctuations of everyday life induced a state of calm control. When the daily practice of mindfulness was continued in his meditations, it brought the bhikkhu an insight into the nature of personality that was more deeply rooted and immediate than any that could be produced by rational deduction. It also led to greater self-discipline. p. 110

mindfulness also made the bhikkhu more aware of the morality of his behavior. He noticed how his own "unskillful" actions could harm other people and that even his motivation could be injurious. So, the Buddha concluded, our intentions were kamma and had consequences. The intentions, conscious or unconscious, that inspired our actions were mental acts that were just as important as any external deeds. This redefinition of kamma as cetana (intention; choice) was revolutionary; it deepened the entire question of morality, which was now located in the mind and heart and could not merely be a matter of outward behavior. p. 110

the Buddha delivered a second sermon in the Deer Park, in which he expounded his unique doctrine of anatta (no-self). He divided the human personality into five "heaps" or "constituents" (khandhas): the body, feelings, perceptions, volitions (conscious and unconscious) and consciousness, and asked the bhikkhus to consider each khandha in turn. p. 111

Thus each khandha, subject as it was to dukkha, flawed and transitory, could not constitute or include the Self sought by so many of the ascetics and yogins. Was it not true, the Buddha asked his disciples, that after examining each khandha, an honest person found that he could not wholly identify with it, because it was so unsatisfactory? He was bound o say, "This is not mine; this is not what I really am; this is not my self." But the Buddha did not simply deny the existence of the eternal, absolute Self. He now claimed that there was no stable, lower-case self either. The terms "self" and "myself" were simply conventions. The personality had no fixed or changeless core. As the Chain showed, every sentient being was in a state of constant flux; he or she was merely a succession of temporary mutable states of existence. p. 111

Note: anatta - no self--but continuing events in the Chain of Causation

Where the seventeenth-century French philosopher Rene Descartes would declare "I think, therefore I am." the Buddha came to the opposite conclusion. The more he thought, in the mindful yogic way he had developed, the clearer it seemed that what we call the "self" is a delusion. p. 111

Note: I wonder how well Gazzaniga's left brain interpreter would fit into this? "I submit that it is the left-brain interpreter that is coming up with the theory, the narrative, and the self-image, taking the information from various inputs, from the “neuronal workspace,” and from the knowledge structures, and gluing it together, thus creating the self, the autobiography, out of the chaos of input." The self may be a delusion, but it seems to be a "hard-wired" delusion that humans have developed to help them survive and pass on their genes.

What we experience as the "self" is really just a convenience-term, because we are constantly changing. p. 112

A dhamma was an imperative to action, and the doctrine of anatta was not an abstract philosophical proposition but required Buddhists to behave as though the ego did not exist. The ethical effects of this are far-reaching Not only does the idea of "self" lead to unskillful thoughts about "me and mine" and inspire our selfish cravings; egotism can arguable be described as the source of all evil. p. 112

Yasa's father...was then the first to make what has since become known as the Triple Refuge: an assertion of complete confidence in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha of bhikkhus. He also became one of the first lay followers p 119

For the first time in history, somebody had envisaged a religious program that was not confined to a single group, but was intended for the whole of humanity. p. 120

Note: This is something that Karen needs to support rather than just assert.

Buddhist scriptures, however, record the Buddha's sermons and describe the first five years of his teaching career in some detail, but after that the Buddha fades from view and the last twenty years of his life are almost entirely unrecorded. p. 122

The two friends became the inspiration for the two main schools of Buddhism that developed some 200 to 300 years after the Buddha's death. The more austere and monastically inclined Theravada regard Sariputta as a second founder. He was of an analytical cast of mind and could express the Dhamma in a way that was easy to memorize. But his piety was too dry for the more populist Mahayana school, whose version of Buddhism is more democratic and emphasizes the importance of compassion. The Mahayana has taken Moggallana as their mentor; he was known for his iddhi, would ascend mystically to the heavens and, through his yogic powers, had an uncanny ability to read people's minds. The fact that the Buddha praised both Sariputta and Moggallana shows that both schools are regarded as authentic p 130

he made the monsoon retreat (vassa) obligatory for all Sangha members. But he went one step further than the other wanderers, and invented the monastic communal life ... The Buddha ordered his bhikkhus to live together during the vassa, not with members of other sects; they could choose one of the aramas or a country settlement (avasa), which the monks built each year p 139

But above all, the bhikkhus had to learn to live together amicably. The inevitable difficulties of living with people whom they might not find personally congenial would put the equanimity they were supposed to have acquired in meditation to the test p 140

Some scholars believe that the Buddha saw such rulers as Pasenedi and Bimbisara as partners in a program of political and social reform. They suggest that the Sangha was designed to counter the rampant individualism that was inevitable as society progressed from a tribal, communal ethos to a competitive, cutthroat market economy. p. 142

But the Buddha was certainly trying to forge a new way of being human. The evident contentment of his bhikkhus showed that the experiment was working. p 142

The full Dhamma was only possible for monks ... The Noble Truths were not for laymen; they had to be "realized" and this "direct" knowledge could not be achieved without yoga, which was essential to the full Buddhist regimen. p 143

Note: How much of this disqualifies Buddhism as a life option for me, a lay person who has absolutely no delusions about rebirth. I wonder what "Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist" has to say about this?

Some lay people, such as Anathapindika, would spend a lot of time with the Buddha and the bhikkhus. They were encouraged to take five moral vows--a Dhamma for beginners. They must not take life; they must not steal, lie or take intoxicants; they must avoid sexual promiscuity. p. 145

Note: another reason why I would never make a good Buddhist

Like any yogin, before the Buddhist monk could even begin to meditate, he had to undergo a moral training in compassion, self-control and mindfulness. The laity were never able to graduate to serious yoga, so they concentrated on this morality (sila), which the Buddha adapted to their station of life.

Monks were trained to be mindful of their fleeting mental states; lay followers were directed to appanada (attentiveness) in their financial and social dealings. The Buddha told them to save for an emergency, look after their dependents, give alms to bhikkhus, avoid debt, make sure they had enough money for the immediate needs of their families, and invest money carefully. p 146

To help the Kalamans build up this "skillful" mentality, the Buddha taught them a meditative technique that was a lay person's version of the "immeasurables." First they must ry to rid their minds of envy, feelings of ill will and delusion. Then they should direct feelings of loving-kindness in every direction. As they did so, they would experience an enhanced, enlarged existence. They would find that they were imbued with "abundant, exalted, measureless loving-kindness"; they would break out of the confines of their own limited viewpoint and embrace the whole world. They would transcend the pettiness of egotism and, for a moment, experience an ecstasy that took them out of themselves, "above, below, around and everywhere," and would feel their hearts expand with disinterested equanimity. p 150

The Buddha was, therefore, teaching monks and lay folk alike a compassionate offensive to mitigate the egotism that prevailed in the aggressive new society and that debarred human beings from the sacred dimension of life. p. 150

If he continued to bar women from the Sangha, it meant that he considered that half of the human race was ineligible for enlightenment. p. 152

Buddha reluctantly conceded defeat. Pajapati could enter the Sangha if she accepted eight strict rules. These provisions made it clear that the nuns (bhikkhunis) were an inferior breed. p. 153

What are we to make of this misogyny? The Buddha had always preached to women as well as to men. Once he had given permission, thousands of women became bhikkhunis, and the Buddha praised their spiritual attainments p. 153

there is a difficulty for women that should not be glossed over. In the Buddha's mind, women may well have been inseparable from the "lust" that made enlightenment an impossibility. p. 154

If the Buddha did harbor negative feelings about women, that was typical of the Axial Age...Archeological discoveries indicate that women were sometimes highly esteemed in pre-urban societies, but eh rise of the military states and the specialization of the early cities led to a decline in their position. p. 155

It is notable that in a country such as Egypt, which did no participate initially in the Axial Age, there was a more liberal attitude to women. It seems that the new spirituality contained an inherent hostility toward the female that has lasted until our own day. The Buddha's quest was masculine in its heroism: the determined casting off of all restraints, the rejection of the domestic world and women, the solitary struggle, and the penetration of new realms are attitudes that have become emblematic of male virtue. p. 155

the first major crisis in the Sangha was caused by a clash of male egos...The Kosambi bhikkhus at once divided into hostile factions and the Buddha was so distressed by the schism that at one point he went off to live by himself in the forest, forming a friendship with an elephant who had also suffered from aggressive peers. Hatred, the Buddha said, was never appeased by more hatred; it could only be defused by friendship and sympathy. He could see that both camps had right on their side, but the egotism of all the bhikkhus involved made it impossible for them to see the other point of view. p 156

the Buddha did not impose a solution: the answer must come from the participants themselves. Eventually, the suspended bhikkhu climbed down: even though he had not known it at the time, he had committed a fault. Immediately, he was reinstated and the quarrel came to an end. p. 156

The story tells us a good deal about the early Sangha. There was no tight organization and no central authority. It was closer to the sanghas of the old republics, where all the members of the council were equal, than to the new monarchies. The Buddha refused to be an authoritative and controlling ruler p. 157

The Sangha is the heart of Buddhism, because its lifestyle embodies externally the inner state of Nibbana. Monks and nuns must "Go Forth," not only from the household life but even from their own selves. A bhikkhu and bhikkhuni, almsman and almswoman, have renounced the "craving" that goes with getting and spending, depend entirely on what they are given and learn to be happy with the bare minimum. The lifestyle of the Sangha enables its members to meditate, and thus to dispel the fires of ignorance, greed and hatred that bind us to the wheel of suffering. The ideal of compassion and communal love teaches them to lay aside their own egotism and live for others. p 159

By attaining Nibbana in this life, he had revealed a new potential in human nature. It was possible to lie in this world of pain, at peace, in control and in harmony with oneself and the rest of creation. But to achieve this tranquil immunity, a man or woman had to break free of his or her egotism and live entirely for other beings. p 161

The Buddha had always seen old age as a symbol of the dukkha which afflicted all mortal beings. As Pasendi had remarked, he himself was now old. Ananda, who was far from young himself, had recently been dismayed by the change in his master. His skin was wrinkled, his limbs were flaccid, his body was bent and his sense seemed to be failing. "So it is, so it is, Ananda," the Buddha agreed. Old age was indeed cruel. p. 164

the Order had once again been threatened by schism and had been implicated in a plot to kill King Bimbisara...even the principles of the Sangha could be subverted and made lethal p. 165

as the Buddha got older, Devadatta became resentful of his hold over the Order. He decided to build his own power base. Devadatta had lost all sense of the religious life, and began ruthlessly to promote himself. p 165

the Buddha was not much concerned about the leadership of the Order. He had always maintained that the Sangha did not need a central authority figure, since each monk was responsible for himself. But any attempt to sow dissension, as Devadatta had done, was anathema. An atmosphere of egotism, ambition, hostility and competitiveness was absolutely incompatible with the spiritual life and would negate the raison d'etre of the Sangha p. 166

When Devadatta published his five rules and asked the Buddha to make them obligatory for the whole Sangha, the Buddha refused, pointing out that any monk who wished to live in this way was perfectly free to do so, but that coercion in these matters was against the spirit of the Order. Monks must make up their own minds and not be forced to follow anybody else's directives. p 169

he suddenly dismissed his monks: they should go back to Vesali and put up for the monsoon retreat wherever they could. He and Ananda would stay on in Beluvagamaka. A new solitude had entered the Buddha's life, and from this point he seemed to shun the larger cities and towns and to seek out ever more obscure locations. It was as thought he were already beginning to leave the world. p 174

"What does the Sangha expect of me, Ananda?" he asked patiently. The bhikkhus all knew everything he had to teach them. There was no secret doctrine for a few chosen leaders. Such thoughts as "I must govern the Sangha" or "The Sangha depends on me" did not occur to an enlightened man. "I am an old man, Ananda, eighty years old," the Buddha went on inexorably. "My body can only get about with the help of makeshifts, like an old cart." The one activity that brought him ease and refreshment was meditation, which introduced him to the peace and release of Nibbana. And so it must be for every single bhikkhu and bhikkhuni. "Each of you must make himself his island, make himself and no one else his refuge." No Buddhist could depend upon another person and need one of their number to lead the Order. "The Dhamma--and the Dhamma alone--was his refuge." How could the bhikkhus become self-reliant? They knew the answer already: by meditation, concentration, mindfulness and a disciplined detachment from the world. The Sangha needed no one to govern it, no central authority. p 175

But Ananda had not yet achieved Nibbana. He was not a skilled yogin and had not managed to achieve this degree of self-sufficiency. He was personally attached to his master and would become the model of those Buddhist who were not ready for such yogic heroism, but needed a more human devotion (bhakhti) to the Buddha to encourage them. p. 175

Yet again, the Buddha was mildly exasperated to see Ananda's distress. What did he expect? Was it not the essence of the Dhamma that nothing lasted forever and that there was always separation from everything and everybody that we love? p. 175

Far from being distressed about the deaths of his two closest disciples, the Buddha was overjoyed that they had attained their parinibbana, their ultimate release from the frailties of mortality. It was a joy to him to have had two such disciples, who were so beloved by the whole Sangha! How could he be sorrowful and lament, when they had reached the final goal of their quest? p 176

Nevertheless, for the unenlightened, there was a poignancy and sadness in the Buddha's end. None of the inner circle was left except for Ananda...Instead, the Buddha and Ananda, two old men, struggled on alone, experiencing the weariness of survival the the passing away of companions with constitutes the true tragedy of old age. p. 176

The term for the attainment of Nibbana in this life in the texts is sa-upadi-sesa. An Arahant had extinguished the fires of craving, hatred and ignorance, but he still had a "residue" (sesa) of "fuel" (upadi) as long as he lived in the body, used his senses and mind, and experienced emotions. There was a potential for a further conflagration. But when an Arahant, died, these khandha could never be ignited again, and could not feed the flame of a new existence. The Arahant was, therefore, free from samsara and could be absorbed wholly into the peace and immunity of Nibbana. p 181

When the Buddha heard about Ananda's tears, he sent for him. "That is enough, Ananda," he said. "Don't be sorrowful; don't grieve." Had he not explained, over and over again, that nothing was permanent but that separation was the law of life? "And Ananda," the Buddha concluded, "for years you have waited on me with constant love and kindness. You have taken care of my physical needs, and have supported me in all your words and thoughts. You have done all this to help me, joyfully and with your whole heart. You have earned merit, Ananda. Keep trying, and you will soon be enlightened too." p. 185

Note: Ananda's Tears would be a good title for an essay on why I cannot be a good buddhist

"You may be thinking, Ananda: 'The word of the Teacher is now a think of the past; no we have no more Teacher.' But that is not how you should see it. Let the Dhamma and the Discipline that I have taught you be your Teacher when I am gone." He had alway told his followers to look not at him but at the Dhamma; he himself had never been important. Then he turned to the crowd of bhikkhus who had accompanied him on this last journey, and reminded them yet again that "All individual things pass away. Seek your liberation with diligence." p 187

As a flame blown out by the wind

Goes to rest and cannot be defined,

So the enlightened man freed from selfishness

Goes to rest and cannot be defined.

Gone beyond all images--

Gone beyond the power of words. p 187