Đại Cương Phật Pháp

Fundamentals of Buddhism (Ðại Cương Phật Pháp)

1. Introduction

All philosophical ideas, as well as religions, during the time of the Buddha did not resolve any of the problems facing humanity and society, which was why Prince Siddhartha embarked on the path to find the truth. In finding the truth, he wanted to teach this insight to guide all beings on the path of enlightenment and eliminate suffering. He recognized that beings overpowered by ignorance, greed, and hatred, would never recognize the path, so he spread his teachings according to each being’s capacity to learn, just like a doctor prescribing medicines to individuals depending on their specific illness. After 49 years of preaching, Buddha claimed: "I have not said a word." Yes, his doctrines were subtle and insightful, if not too difficult to understand by most beings. Every disease has its prescribed medication; hence, He did not speak of a common drug to treat all beings. Whoever was in pain, he prescribed the respective medication; whoever asked, he answered. One person’s sickness could not be treated by someone else's prescription, so the saying "I have not said a word" is not incorrect. Fortunately, his disciples remembered what he had said and together documented his teachings, so that his teachings are available to us today. Additionally, the phrase "I have not said a word" helps us realize that we should not cling to any of his lessons, but rather we (of course, with the guidance of monks and nuns) find a path for ourselves, a method of practice to attain liberation. Before going deep into the Buddhist texts, we need to understand the general fundamentals about Buddhism.

2. Fundamentals of Buddhism

As previously mentioned, Buddha’s great disciples collaborated to compile and record many of the Buddha’s discourse. Alongside these teachings, the Patriarchs through their own realization also left us with their own interpretations/explanations of the teachings of the Buddha. Together, all of these formed the doctrinal foundation of Buddhism (Tipitakas or Pali canon), classified into three sections:

• Sutras (suttas, Buddha’s teaching or collection of discourses attributed to the Buddha when he was alive)
• Vinaya, Rules (guidelines set forth by the Buddha for the monks/nuns and lay-Buddhist to practice accordingly)
• Abhidhamma, Philosophy (commentaries and interpretations of the Buddhist texts by Buddha’s disciples, the Patriarch and Buddhist masters, to discuss and clearly explain the meaning of the teachings.)

Through various forms of propagation, the Tipitaka are housed in the two Buddhist Sects: Mahayana (known as the Northern School which spread throughout northern India, China, Tibet, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, ...) and Theravada (known as the Southern School or “Original” school which spread across South India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, …).

Since Vietnam was on both missionary routes, Vietnam has both Buddhism Sects. Mahayana doctrines were written mostly in Chinese, while Theravada doctrines were written in Sanskrit (India).

The methods of the Northern School were under the influence of China, where monks lived together in temples. In addition to their own Buddhist practice, they also helped guide others. For that reason, Mahayana Buddhism is also referred to as a “Greater Vehicle” for transporting many people. The methods of the Southern School retained the practice similar to the time of the Buddha, where monks received their meals from daily offerings and do not worry about meals, housing, etc. Theravada Buddhism is also referred to as “Lesser Vehicle”, carrying only one person. Theravada is considered the “original” branch of Buddhism because it still preserved the traditions during the Buddha’s time.

Whether Theravada or Mahayana, Northern School or Southern School, the essentials of Buddhism is still -- to provide us with a clear understanding of the sufferings of life, not in a pessimistic way causing us to feel despair, but to find out why beings suffer and seek to liberate from that suffering. Buddhism introduces us to peace and joy, showing us the way to liberate and attain happiness.

The path to attain such happiness is within the eight ways (which will be studied in more details in the lesson on the Noble Eightfold Path).

Belonging to the awareness, wisdom:

• Right Understanding
• Right Thoughts

Belonging to ethics, moral, speech, and actions:

• Right Speech
• Right Action
• Right Livelihood
• Right Effort, striving to resolve problems properly

Belonging to the concentration:

• Right Mindfulness
• Right Concentration

These Eight ways to attain true joy and liberation can be grouped into three categories:

• Rules/Precepts: Ethics, morality and practice through words and actions.
• Concentration: Focus, meditation practice through deep concentration.
• Wisdom: Awareness, knowledge.

These three categories are interrelated. By having wisdom, we are aware of the importance of having rules/precepts, in order to easier practice and uphold the rules/precepts. By upholding the rules/precepts, our mind does not wander, thus easier to maintain concentration. By having concentration, wisdom is developed (for example: by having concentration, it is easier to study and remember our lessons; and if the mind is distracted, it would be much harder to remember and retain the lesson).

Buddhism also shows clearly the transformation of all things (including humans): Impermanence. Buddhism’s view of the universe is based on "Dependent Origination." All things, all phenomena (or broadly speaking -- the universe) are created by many interrelated factors, and not spontaneously formed by itself nor created by one being. If any of the factors should change, then those things and phenomena will also change. Buddhism’s view of the human lives is based on "karma." Death isn’t the end for living beings, but rather transformations to different lives. Life and death is only a phase shift of the long chain of rebirth. Thus, every conscious action (karma) is the cause and what comes to us in life is the effect of that karma, and so cause-effects coincide, going hand-in-hand. Our lives are the results or the effects of the karmic seeds that we sow and not from any god that gives or takes from us. Happiness is not attained from begging or praying for it, but one must do good deeds to get the desired, good results. One should never believe that fate governs our lives. On the contrary, we govern our own lives; it is what we make of it (which will be studied in further details in the lesson on Cause and Effect of Karma).

3. Conclusion

In summary, we must have an overview of the entire Buddhist teachings and understand the very fundamental ideas of Buddhism. In the youth leader’s training curriculum, we will go deeper into each subject to have a more thorough understanding.