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Lecture notes, cheat sheets
History of world religions. Jainism and Buddhism (lecture notes)
Directory / Lecture notes, cheat sheets Table of contents (expand) LECTURE No. 4. Jainism and Buddhism 1. Conditions for the Emergence of New Religions in India In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. great changes begin to take place in the Old Indian society. Agrarian and handicraft production, trade are developing significantly, property differences between members of individual varnas and castes are deepening, the position of direct producers is changing. The power of the monarchy is gradually increasing, the institution of tribal power is falling into decay and losing its influence. The first large state formations arise. In the III century. BC e. under the rule of Ashoka, almost all of India is united within the framework of a single monarchical state. The community remains an important component of the social and economic system, but some changes are taking place. The property differentiation between members of the communities deepens, and the upper stratum stands out more and more noticeably, concentrating economic and political power in its hands; the number of dependent citizens and employees is growing. This is also the time of searches in the religious and philosophical sphere. Traditional Vedic ritualism and old, often primitive mythology do not correspond to the new conditions. A number of new doctrines are emerging, fundamentally independent of the ideology of Vedic Brahminism, rejecting the privileged position of the Brahmins in the cult and approaching the question of a person's place in society in a new way. Around the heralds of the new teachings, separate directions and schools are gradually formed, naturally, with a different theoretical approach to pressing issues. Of the many new schools, the teachings of Jainism and Buddhism are acquiring pan-Indian significance above all. 2. Jainism The founder of the Jain doctrine is considered Mahavir Vardhamana (lived in 6th century BC uh., no more precise date), came from a wealthy Kshatriya family in Videha (present-day Bihar). At the age of 28, he leaves his home in order to, after 12 years of asceticism and philosophical reasoning, come to the principles of a new teaching. Then Vardhamana was engaged in preaching activities. At first he found students and numerous followers in Bihar, but soon his teachings spread throughout India. Vardhamana is also called Jina (Winner - meaning the winner over the cycle of rebirth and karma). According to the Jain tradition, he was only the last of 24 teachers - tirthakars (creators of the path), whose teachings arose in the distant past. The Jain teaching existed for a long time only in the form of an oral tradition, and a canon was compiled relatively late (in the XNUMXth century AD). Therefore, it is not always easy to distinguish the original core of Jain doctrine from later interpretations and additions. The Jain doctrine, which (as in other Indian systems) mixes religious speculation with philosophical reasoning, proclaims dualism. The essence of a person's personality is twofold - material (ajiva) and spiritual (jiva). The link between them is karma. The connection of inanimate matter with the soul by the bonds of karma leads to the emergence of an individual, and karma constantly accompanies the soul in an endless chain of rebirths. Jains have developed the concept of karma in detail and distinguish between eight types of different karmas, which are based on two fundamental qualities. Evil karmas negatively affect the main properties of the soul, which, according to the Jains, it acquired when it was perfect in its natural form. Good karmas keep the soul in the cycle of rebirths. And only when a person gradually gets rid of evil and good karmas, will his liberation from the fetters of samsara occur. Jains believe that a person, with the help of his spiritual essence, can control and manage the material essence. Only he himself decides what is good and evil and to what to attribute everything that he encounters in life. God is just a soul that once lived in a material body and was freed from the fetters of karma and the chain of rebirth. In the Jain concept, god is not seen as a creator god or a god who interferes in human affairs. The liberation of the soul from the influence of karma and samsara is possible only with the help of austerity and the performance of good deeds. Therefore, Jainism places great emphasis on the development of an ethic traditionally referred to as the three jewels (triratna). It speaks of right understanding based on right faith, right knowledge and right knowledge that follows from this, and finally right living. The first two principles relate primarily to faith and knowledge of the Jain teachings. The right life, in the understanding of the Jains, is essentially a greater or lesser degree of austerity. Principles, various stages and forms of asceticism are devoted to a lot of space in the texts. The path of liberation of the soul from samsara is complex and multi-phased. The goal is personal salvation, for a person can be freed only by himself, and no one can help him. This explains the egocentric character of Jain ethics. Designed primarily for members of Jain communities, the Ethical Guidelines detail the various oaths taken by monks and nuns. They absolutize, in particular, the principles of not causing harm to living beings, the principles relating to sexual abstinence, estrangement from worldly wealth; norms of activity, behavior, etc. are determined. An integral part of the Jain canon are also various speculative constructions, for example, about the ordering of the world. The cosmos, according to the Jains, is eternal, it was never created and cannot be destroyed. Ideas about the ordering of the world come from the science of the soul, which is constantly limited by the matter of karma. The souls that are most burdened with it are placed the lowest and, as they get rid of karma, gradually rise higher and higher until they reach the highest limit. In addition, the canon also contains discussions about both basic entities (jiva-ajiva), about the individual components that make up the cosmos, about the so-called environment of rest and movement, about space and time. It contains, among other things, mythological legends that relate to the life and accomplishments of individual tirth-khankars, and legends associated with the personality of Vardhamana, and descriptions of the underworld and the middle world (our Earth). Over the course of time, two directions were formed in Jainism, which differed, in particular, in their understanding of asceticism. The Digambaras (literally: dressed in air, that is, those who reject clothes) defended orthodox views, the Shvetambaras (literally: dressed in white) proclaimed a more moderate approach. The influence of Jainism gradually declined, although it has survived in India to this day. 3. Buddhism Buddhism, the oldest of the world's religions, "was created by a people that differs almost from all others in inexhaustible creativity in the field of religion" (Barthold). In the VI century. BC. e. Buddhism rises in North India - the doctrine founded by Siddhartha Gautama (about 583-483 years. to n. BC), the son of the ruler of the Shakya clan from Kapilavast (region of Southern Nepal). At the age of 29 (shortly after his son was born), dissatisfied with life, he leaves his family and goes into "homelessness". After many years of useless austerity, he achieves awakening (bodhi), that is, he comprehends the right path of life, which rejects extremes. This is the discovery of the main knowledge (dharmas) it was like a sudden insight, enlightenment, hence the new name of the prince: Buddha means "enlightened", literally - "awakened". (The Sanskrit word dharma is extraordinarily ambiguous: law, order, duty, justice; quality, character, nature, the primary elements of nature; religion, truth, virtue. In early Buddhism, dharma is the very teaching of the Buddha about the world and about the ways of human salvation). Buddha comprehended, proclaimed and began to preach the worldview and behavior that can save a person from suffering. Salvation, the Buddha taught, consists in achieving nirvana (in Sanskrit, it literally means "extinguishing, fading") - complete peace and tranquility that comes after all human desires, passions and fears are overcome. During his life he had many followers. Soon there is a large community of monks and nuns; his teaching was accepted by a large number of people leading a secular lifestyle, who began to adhere to certain principles of the doctrine of the Buddha. The Buddhist doctrine for a long time existed only in the oral tradition, and the canonical texts were written down several centuries after the appearance of the doctrine. Over time, the Buddhist tradition surrounded the life of the Buddha with many legends, miracles were attributed to him, and his figure gradually acquired a divine character. The Buddha's sermons were originally not so much a new religious system as an ethical and psychotherapeutic teaching. However, communities of monks who preached the teachings of the Buddha formed early, and competition with traditional Hindu cults led to ideas about the holiness of the Buddha and his teachings, and then a fairly early desire to canonize sacred books (already at the first Buddhist cathedrals after the death of the Buddha in 483 city, then to 383 и 250 gg. BC e.). It is not easy to reconstruct the most ancient form of Buddhist teaching, yet scholars have now largely agreed on the basis of the doctrine that the Awakened One himself proclaimed. The center of learning is four noble truths, which Buddha proclaims at the very beginning of his preaching activity. According to them, human existence is inextricably linked with suffering. Birth, illness, old age, death, meeting the unpleasant and parting with the pleasant, the inability to achieve what you want - all this leads to suffering. The cause of suffering is thirst (trishna), leading through joys and passions to rebirth, birth again. The elimination of the causes of suffering lies in the elimination of this thirst. The path leading to the elimination of suffering - the wholesome eightfold path - is: right judgment, right decision, right speech, right living, right aspiration, right attention and right concentration. Both a life devoted to sensual pleasures and the path of asceticism and self-torture are rejected. According to Buddhist tradition, these ideas formed the content of the Buddha's first sermon in Varanasi. This sermon is not clear in concept, more like a solemn proclamation of the foundations of the doctrine, and the terms used are very vague. The Buddhist canon of the Four Noble Truths is commented on in detail, developed and expounded in various aspects. For these purposes, a complex conceptual apparatus is created. In particular, it refers to the factors that form the personality of the individual. There are five groups of these factors in total. In addition to physical bodies (rupa), there are mental ones, such as feelings, consciousness, etc. The influences that act on these factors during the life of an individual are also considered. Particular attention is paid to further refinement of the concept of "thirst" (Trishna). Its origin and influence are analyzed, three main types are distinguished: the thirst for sensual pleasures (kama), the thirst for incarnation (bhava) and the thirst for self-destruction (vibhava). Gradually, the concept of "thirst" is replaced by the concept of raga (desire, aspiration), and this whole side of the teaching acquires a slightly different content. In addition, another concept arises that indicates ignorance (avidya) as the cause of suffering - here ignorance of the true path leading to liberation from suffering - and, based on this, a complex, twelve-fold chain of causes of suffering is constructed. On this basis, the content of the individual sections of the eightfold path is developed. Correct judgment is identified with a correct understanding of life as a vale of sorrow and suffering, a correct decision is understood as the determination to show sympathy for all living beings. Correct speech is characterized as unsophisticated, truthful, friendly and precise. The right life consists in observing the precepts of morality - the famous Buddhist five commandments (pancha-shila), which both monks and secular Buddhists must adhere to. These are the following principles: do not harm living beings, do not take someone else's, refrain from forbidden sexual intercourse, do not make idle and false speeches, and do not use intoxicating drinks. The rest of the steps of the eightfold path are also analyzed, in particular, the last step is the peak of this path, to which all the other steps lead, considered only as a preparation for it. Right concentration, characterized by four degrees of absorption (jhana), refers to meditation and meditation practice. A lot of space is given to it in the texts, separate aspects of all mental states that accompany meditation and meditation practice are considered. The path to liberation from samsara is open only to monks, however, according to the teachings of the Buddha, the observance of ethical principles and the support of the community (sangha) can prepare the prerequisites for entering the path of salvation in one of the future existences and numerous groups of secular Buddhists. A monk who has gone through all the stages of the eightfold path and, with the help of meditation, has come to liberating knowledge, becomes an arhat, a saint who stands on the threshold of the ultimate goal - nirvana (literally: extinction). This does not mean death, but the way out of the cycle of rebirths. This person will not be reborn again, but will enter the state of nirvana and - as the texts say - will disappear, "like the flame of a lamp into which no oil is poured." Relatively quickly, various directions and schools of Buddhism begin to form, which develop the original teaching and seek to answer unanswered questions. At the same time, some directions assimilate numerous elements of other religions, in particular Hinduism, and proclaim concepts that are very different from Buddhist ones. The direction most consistent with the original teaching of the Buddha was Hinayana ("small chariot"), in which the path to nirvana is completely open only to monks who have rejected worldly life. Other schools of Buddhism point to this direction only as an individual doctrine, not suitable for spreading the teachings of the Buddha. In teaching Mahayana ("great chariot") cult plays an important role bodhisattvas - individuals who are already able to enter nirvana, but who postpone the achievement of the final goal in order to help others achieve it. The Bodhisattva voluntarily accepts suffering and feels his predestination and calling to care for the good of the world for so long until everyone is freed from suffering. Followers of the Mahayana consider the Buddha not as a historical figure, the founder of the doctrine, but as the highest absolute being. The essence of the Buddha appears in three bodies, of which only one manifestation of the Buddha - in the form of a man - fills all living things. Rites and ritual actions are of particular importance in the Mahayana. Buddha and bodhisattvas become objects of worship. A number of concepts of the old teaching (for example, some steps of the eightfold path) are filled with new content. In addition to the Hinayana and Mahayana - these main directions - there were a number of other schools. Buddhism soon after its origin spread to Ceylon, later through China penetrated to the Far East. In China, Buddhism took the form of Ch'an Buddhism, in Japan, the form of Zen Buddhism. Author: Pankin S.F. << Back: Judaism (Judaism as a world religion. "Torah" - the main document of Judaism. "Talmud" - the Sacred Tradition of Judaism. Apophatic tendencies in the "Talmud". Commentary culture of Judaism. Jewish philosophy in the Middle Ages) >> Forward: Confucianism (Confucius. Xunzi. Confucianism and religion)
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