Chapter 1: The Background

Similar to Trainor's book, the first chapter of my book (Buddhism: Light of Asia) goes into some historical context around the time of the Buddha. The Aryans invaded India between 3000 and 2000 B.C. It is not clear where they came from, and the book doesn't say whether the invasion was violent or not. During this period the Aryans produced a body of poetic and religious literature called the Vedas. These verses do not much discuss life after death, but talk about the gods and religious rituals.

To start, the Aryans had rituals to supplicate their gods; every person performed the rites, which were simple. As time went on, the rituals became more developed, so complicated that only certain persons could perform them correctly. During this later period it was also thought that the rituals could be used to actually control the gods - induce certain desired effects in nature, for example. It was also during this period that the concept of samsara appeared. This is the belief that there is a repeated cycle of rebirth, and it is desirable to escape from this cycle. It was thought that the precise and correct practice of rituals could help free one from samsara.

In reaction to this, another body of literature arose, the Upanishads ("secret knowdledge"). According to these documents, one would be released from samsara not by the performance of rituals, but rather through intellectual sweat ("my brain hurts!"). The concept of a god who encompasses the universe, and then some, was developed. The physical manifestation of this "Brahma" is the physical universe, but Brahma also has a spiritual nature that is not manifest physically. In symmetry with this, humans have both a physical and spiritual element. This spirit, the atman, is something like the concept of a soul, and it was believed that the Brahma and atman were actually one. Once this would be realized by a person, release from samsara would occur. At least that's what it sounds like.

Into this historical context was born Gautama Siddhartha. Ch'en mentions six known teachers during this period, aside from the Buddha. Their teachings were as follows:

1. One's actions, good or evil, have no affect on oneself
   
2. No action is evil or good; there are only effects which manipulate the four elements (fire, water, air, earth)
   
3. There is no rebirth; when you die, your body decomposes into its original elements and hence actions, good or evil, are irrelevant
   
4. Fate controls everything so it doesn't matter what you do
   
5. The effects of previous actions can be altered by ascetism (Jainism)

A sixth teacher existed (Sanjaya Belatthiputta) who apparently didn't really teach anything, but who just liked to argue that no conclusions were possible, so far as I can tell.

It strikes me that these teachings are all fairly sophisticated approaches to take. It seems we haven't come much further than this, even to this day.

During Buddha's time, the brahmans (priestly caste) dominated. Buddha took the position that the Vedas were not the sole source of truth, that performance of rituals was not a means to salvation, nor was intellectual effort as described in the Upanishads. He protested against the caste system, and had contact with members from all castes including untouchables. He believed salvation was obtained through scrupulous ethical behavior and actions.