Buddhism: Light of Asia - Chapter 3 - The Teachings of the Buddha

In general, I was disappointed with this chapter. Perhaps it is Ch'en's writing, or perhaps it is the substance. It is certainly disappointing to find that the Buddha was sexist, according to several reports. This does not lend him a lot of credibility, in my eyes.

This chapter starts with a discussion of karma, the idea that one's actions affect one's future reincarnations. This idea predated the Buddha. According to Ch'en, the Buddha added to this idea that both the act and the intention behind the act were what counted. Ch'en: "The Buddhist definition of karma is intention or volition plus bodily action." This begs the question of whether simple intention alone contributes to one's future reincarnations. My understanding was that it mainly mattered what you intended, not so much what you actually did. So if you hate someone ferociously, but do not act on it, you are just as guilty as if you had done something about it. But reading Ch'en's explanation, I get the impression that is not the case: intent must be accompanied by action for karma to come into play.

Next we get the five states of existence according to Buddhism: deity, man, animal, hungry ghost (not to be confused with friendly ghost), and denizen of hell. The "deity" category is confusing. Deities are subject to karma, and can lose their status. And further we find that only man can escape rebirth and achieve nirvana. So what is special about being a deity, which one would consider to be a being superior to man?

Further, animals, hungry ghosts, and denizens of hell are "evil" states. But I find it hard to take the position that animals are "evil." Perhaps I am misinterpreting Ch'en. If an animal is an "evil" state, then why is it wrong to kill one? It's all very confusing.

Predetermination is apparently not discussed directly in Buddhism, but Ch'en says that karma allows for free will, in some sense. That's nice! Ch'en: "... the Buddhist would do away with all distinctions of peoples based on birth or caste or wealth [but not on gender, apparently, as we will later see]. No matter what one may be, he is just as privileged as any other to join the monastic community and strive for the highest goal of religious life." Emphasis on the he, apparently.

Now for some more content to which I object. The Buddha said that life is suffering. This part of Buddhist philosophy seems excessively negative to me. Maybe it is just the way that it translates into Western language. But saying "life is suffering" makes just as much sense as saying "life is a bowl of cherries." Sometimes you suffer, and sometimes things are great. It is not true that life is suffering, and all the arguments that I've heard about it seem transparently false.

Proceeding from the idea that life is suffering, the Buddha prescribed the eight-fold way to "suppress" suffering: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. (If nothing else, this sure made for some good jargon in modern physics).

Now what exactly are these "right" things, in close detail?

• Right speech - do not lie, gossip, or have a sharp tongue. But, you ask, is it ok to tell polite lies? This is not clear.
  
• Right action - do not kill or steal, and abstain from "unchastity"... does Ch'en mean fornication? What exactly is wrong with fornication is not made clear at all. Some mention is made of "lust" being exclusive, and being exclusive is wrong, but certainly not everyone has lusts that are exclusive.
  
• Right livelihood - don't kill for a living (don't be a hitman? or a butcher?), don't perform magic. It's not clear to me why magic is bad, even if you could actually do it. Maybe it is really meant that you shouldn't con or scam people. Which is bad news for e-mail spammers.
  
• Right mindfulness, right effort, right concentration - the distinction between these three is not made clear by Ch'en. Rather, he rambles on for pages about certain Buddhist teachings on how to meditate, the various stages of meditation (including one that's supposed to teach you how much life sucks, involving the contemplation of a decomposing corpse, in case you didn't realize that life sucks already) and levels of trance states.
  
• Right view, right intention - again the difference between these two is not clear. But "right view" means holding the opinion that "life is suffering, impermanent, and there is no permanent self or soul." As to my failure on this point, I guess I'm going to be reborn as a roach, or something.

In the middle of all this discursive text Ch'en relays a disturbing story, reminiscent of several biblical stories. The story is supposed to demonstrate lack of attachment and perfect charity. A prince named Vessantara is repeatedly asked to give away various things, and he does so freely. First, a white elephant that magically produces rain; then his horses, carriage, and furniture; next his children (given away as servants); and finally his wife. What a fine guy! Fortunately, it turns out that all the people requesting these items were just the deity Indra in disguise, and Vessantara's family are returned to him... though why they would want to go back is beyond me. I find these sorts of stories very disturbing.

Thus ends the report on the first half of Chapter 3, there's more to come...