Lesson 1: The Buddha and his Doctrines
Tripitaka and Monasticism
Like the other great religions of the world, Buddhism has a collection of sacred texts from which it draws wisdom and maintains its famous tradition. However, there is a wide variety in Buddhism which is expressed clearly in the large number of varying canons.
We can pinpoint one set of texts that is common to most, if not all, Buddhists – that is the tripitaka, which means three baskets (scholars imagine that originally the three types of text were each kept in a separate basket and thus their name evolved). The original tripitaka was a collection of the Buddha’s teachings or the wisdom of early Buddhist masters, committed to memory and then later recorded.
The first “basket” of teachings is called the sutra pitaka, the basket of sutras. A sutra is a narrative discourse of the Buddha, in which ideas like the Four Noble Truths are examined and then explained. This first basket is filled with the teachings of the original Buddha.
The second collection of teachings is the vinaya pitaka – it is concerned with the details of monastic discipline. These were also given by the original Buddha, but are concerned more with the everyday moral practices of monks than ideas and doctrine.
The abhidharma pitaka is the final basket, and is a collection of works by a number of anonymous followers of the Buddha. They are further discourses on the very nature of reality, and they have faced the most critical examination by later Buddhist thinkers.
In formulating a moral code for his followers, the Buddha distinguished between lay followers and clerical followers, and he held both to different standards. It is quite understood in the Buddhist tradition that those who make the decision to enter a spiritual order are ready to leave behind their worldly desires and thus enter a much higher state of consciousness, and therefore they must adhere to a much stricter set of moral precepts. Lay practitioners, on the other hand, practice only the moral precepts of the Buddha in order to attain a birth that is more conducive to a spiritual life.
Both the lay and the clerical Buddhists must observe these five precepts:
- total non-violence towards all living creatures
- not stealing
- refraining from inappropriate sexual behavior
- not lying
- avoiding any kind of intoxication.
In addition to these five precepts, monks make additional vows. They are forbidden to eat anything after noon, and they do not eat extravagant or luxurious foods. They do not touch silver or gold or any kind of currency. They refrain from activities such as dancing and attending theatre, and from indulging in perfumes or fancy dress. They are forbidden to use luxuries like comfortable beds or tall chairs. These rules are made in order to direct the monk’s attention away from worldly desire and to help him focus on the teachings of the Buddha in the quest for enlightenment.
