User:Dorje108/Buddhism lead paragraph sources

Overview

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Lead paragraphs

I. B. Horner

From "The Encyclopedia of the World's Religions" (1988), R. C. Zaehner, editor, Buddhism: The Theravada, by I. B. Horner, p. 263:

Buddhism is a name given comparatively recently by Westerners to the vast synthesis of teachings, now 2,500 years old, attributed to Gotama (Sanskrit Gautama) the Buddha, the Sage of the Sakyan clan, and to much that later grew out of them as they spread from India to other lands. In his own days, his teachings were known as Dhamma (Sanskrit Dharma), what is right and as it ought to be, also as Buddha-vacana, the word or speech of the Buddha, also as Buddha-sāsana, the message, teaching, instruction or dispensation of the Buddha. From its origin down to the present day this Teaching of peace, inner and outer, has made a triumphant appeal and now probably numbers more followers, especially in South-East Asia, than does any other faith.

'Religion' is perhaps not a very good term to use in connection with Buddhism, since it recognizes no God or godhead, no ishvara or Brahmin in the Upanishadic sense. Life here is not regarded as a preparation for eternity, but as a discipline for governing man's attitude to the here and now, the present conditions, and, if properly and diligently carried out, will lead on gradually but surely to what is best, the highest good. 'Beyond', where it is his aim to arrive and abide, is virtually the super-consciousness that was already known to the yogis. When a meditator or contemplative achieves this condition of the mind and is deeply and utterly absorbed, material things are so completely transcended that the cease to attract and repel or even impinge on the senses. There is no reaction to them. This is freedom, and it is peace. 'Immaterial things are more peaceful than material, cessation is more peaceful than immaterial things' (Itivuttaka, p. 62).

Rupert Gethin

The term ‘Buddhism’ refers to a vast and complex religious and philosophical tradition with a history that stretches over some 2,500 years, taking in, at one time or another, the greater part of Asia, from Afghanistan and parts of Persia in the west to Japan in the east, from the great islands of Sumatra and Java in the south to Mongolia and parts of southern Russia in the north. As one writer reminds us, over half the world’s population today lives in areas where Buddhism has at one time or another been the dominant religious influence. Living Buddhism divides into three broad traditions: [Theravada, East Asian, and Tibetan].

- Gethin, Rupert (1998-07-16). The Foundations of Buddhism (p. 1). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.

Context of the above statement:

The present volume was conceived as an introduction to Buddhist thought and practice, and is intended to be accessible to the reader with no previous knowledge of Buddhism. Given its great diversity and its long history, the task of introducing Buddhism is a daunting one. As is fashionable to point out these days, ‘Buddhism’ is something of an intellectual abstraction: in reality there is not one Buddhism but many Buddhisms. Any writer of an introductory text to Buddhism is faced with the problem of how to do justice to the richness and diversity of Buddhism both past and present. - Gethin, Rupert (1998-07-16). The Foundations of Buddhism (p. 2). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.

PBS website

Buddhism is a major global religion with a complex history and system of beliefs. The following is intended only to introduce Buddhism's history and fundamental tenets, and by no means covers the religion exhaustively. To learn more about Buddhism, please look through our Web Resources section for other in-depth, online sources of information. - http://www.pbs.org/edens/thailand/buddhism.htm

Primary orientation

Dalai Lama

At the heart of the Buddha’s teaching lies the idea that the potential for awakening and perfection is present in every human being and that it is a matter of personal effort to realise that potential. The Buddha proclaimed that each individual is a master of his or her own destiny, highlighting the ability that each person holds to achieve enlightenment. In fulfilling this aim what we need is compassion and concern for others and not self-centredness.

- Goldstein, Joseph (2011-03-15). One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism . Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition. (from the introduction)

Dzogchen Ponlop

Buddhism is primarily a study of mind and a system for training the mind. It is spiritual in nature, not religious. Its goal is self-knowledge, not salvation; freedom, not heaven. It relies on reason and analysis, contemplation and meditation, to transform knowledge about something into knowledge that surpasses understanding. But without your curiosity and questions, there is no path, no journey to be taken, even if you adopt all the forms of the tradition.

Rinpoche, Dzogchen Ponlop (2010-11-09). Rebel Buddha: A Guide to a Revolution of Mind (p. 20). Shambhala Publications. Kindle Edition.

Paul Williams

Buddhism is therefore a soteriology. In other words it is concerned with bringing about for its practitioners liberation, freedom, from states and experiences held to be negative, unpleasant, not wanted. Being liberated is by contrast a state that is positive, pleasant, and wanted. The primary orientation of Buddhism, therefore, is towards the transformative experience of the individual, for there are no experiences that are not experiences of individuals. Buddhism is thus also concerned first and foremost with the mind, or, to be more precise, with mental transformation, for there are no experiences that are not in some sense reliant on the mind. This mental transformation is almost invariably held to depend upon, and to be brought about finally by, oneself for there can also be no transformation of one's own mind without on some level one's own active involvement or participation. Buddhism is thus a highly individualistic path of liberation. One is bound by one's own mind, and it is by working on one's own mind that one becomes liberated, attaining the highest possible spiritual goal.

- Williams, Paul (2002-12-07). Buddhist Thought (pp. 2-3). Taylor & Francis. Kindle Edition.

Gombrich

For Buddhists, religion is purely a matter of understanding and practising the Dhamma [Sanskrit: Dharma], understanding and practice which constitute progress towards salvation. They conceive salvation - or liberation, to use a more Indian term - as the total eradication of greed, hatred and delusion. To attain it is open to any human being, and it is ultimately the only thing worth attaining, for it is the only happiness which is not transient. A person who has attained it will live on so long as his body keeps going, but thereafter not be reborn. Thus he will never have to suffer or die again. For Buddhists, religion is what is relevant to this quest for salvation, and nothing else. (Gombrich 1988: 24)

- Williams, Paul (2002-12-07). Buddhist Thought (pp. 3-4). Taylor & Francis. Kindle Edition.

Damien Keown

The experiential and emotional dimension of Buddhism – Buddhism as a lived experience – is extremely important. The Buddha’s personal experience of enlightenment is the bedrock of the entire Buddhist tradition. Time and again he invoked his own experience as authority for his doctrines, and suggested that teachings not validated by personal experience were of little value. The Buddha’s enlightenment also included an emotional aspect in the form of a profound compassion which motivated him to propagate his teachings, or Dharma. Out of compassion for the suffering of mankind he spent the greater part of his life spreading a teaching which he realized was ‘hard to see and understand, subtle, to be experienced by the wise’, for the benefit of the few ‘with little dust in their eyes who are wasting through not hearing it’ (M.i.168). The experiential dimension is of great importance because Buddhism regards the religious life as essentially a course in self-transformation. Spiritual exercises such as meditation generate altered states of consciousness that can accelerate spiritual development.

- Keown, Damien (2000-02-24). Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction (Kindle Locations 409-417). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.