Following is a rough and not-so-ready 
HTML version of some of my notes from Huston Smith on 
Buddhism, placed here for my students and other colleagues.
Smith, of course, is not responsible for my cites and
miscites from others' works, nor for my errors and asides.
Comments, additions, and corrections are welcome.  
Please send them to:  
email: KAGAN@maple.lemoyne.edu 


Siddhartha Gautama of the Sakyas

Bring Campbell's HERO for tales. N.B. some date Buddha back as being born in 624 BCE (see HS, p. 359, n. 2). AT 16 married Yasodhara; one son, called Rahula. Bring Campbell's HERO for tales.

I. LIFE OF BUDDHA [APPROX 560 BCE - 480]

A. The four passing sights 1. Make sure to discuss the story of the four passing sights; get student s to list them; relate this to finitude; relate this to problem of ultimate meaning, etc. B. Age 29 left home (deserted wife and child?) C. Discuss this issue before going on to IB in regular notes. 6 years lived as forest dweller studying raja yoga before joining a band of ascetics. Recommend Hesse's SIDDHARTHA. B. The Search 1. Yoga 2. Asceticism 3. The long sitting under the Bo tree 4. Enlightenment (BEFORE TEACHING CAREER, DISCUSS METHOD OF "WITHDRAW AND RETURN" IN TERMS OF YEARLY AND DAILY SCHEDULING. RELATE THIS TO THE NECESSITY AND POSSIBILITY OF A SABBATH.

II. TEACHINGS OF BUDDHA

A. Teaching Career 1. character of the teacher a. head, heart, & bearing b. could read character of others; e.g. tale of Sunita, the flower scavenger c. was accessible d. tried to attract with Truth, not charisma (HS, 99) B. Smith's six aspects of religion 1. Authority [certain ones have competence to decide the affairs of the religious life] 2. Ritual [celebration and concern] 3. Speculation [e.g., concerning God, our relation to G.,ultimate beginnings and ends, etc. 4. Tradition [doing for us what instinct does for others] 5. "God's sovereignty and grace" "The realization that one's existence is completely dependent upon factors beyond one's control 6. Mystery C. Smith sees Buddha's teaching as a response to the overdoing of the 6: 1. Buddha preached a religion devoid of authority.1 a. "I have not kept anything back" "The Tathagata (the 'thus come') has no such thing as the closed fist of the teacher." [Smith 104] b. "Do not accept what you hear by report, do not accept tradition, do not accept a statement because it is found in our books, nor because it is in accord with your belief, nor because it is the saying of your teacher. . . . Be ye lamps unto yourselves. . . . Those who, either now or after I am dead, shall rely upon themselves only and not look for assistance to anyone besides themselves, it is they who shall reach the very topmost height."[Smith, 105, quoting from E.A. Burtt's [ed.] TEACHINGS OF THE COMPASSIONATE BUDDHA, pp. 49-50, Mentor Books, New York, 1955.} 2. Buddha preached a religion devoid of ritual. a. "Trust in efficacy of rites and ceremonies" is one of the ten fetters [see Noss, p. 121 for full list]. 3. Buddha preached a religion devoid of speculation. a. "Work out your salvation with diligence" Pragmatic focus on misery and the elimination thereof; certain questions "tend not to edification" [See page 289ff., SOURCEBOOK IN INDIAN PHILOSOPHY.] 1. Tell story of the arrow [106 Smith] (read & discuss) 4. Buddha preached a religion devoid of tradition. 5. Buddha preached a religion of intense self- effort. Buddhas do but point out the way--work out your salvation with diligence." 6. Buddha preached a religion devoid of the supernatural. a. "By this ye shall know that a man is NOT my disciple--that he tries to work a miracle." [HUSTON SMITH, 108] D. Smith's summary of "original Buddhism": 1. It was empirical in terms of knowing for one's self 2. Scientific in its concern with cause and effect relationships 3. Pragmatic ["transcendental pragmatism"] 4. Therapeutic a. Discuss this in terms of the Indian medical model of diagnosis, aetiology, prescription & prognosis. 5. Psychological {individual to universe, not vice-versa} 6. Democratic 7. Directed to individuals ". . . be ye lamps unto yourselves. Be ye a refuge unto yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external refuge. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp. Hold fast as a refuge to the truth. . . . Work out your own salvation with diligence." [HUSTON SMITH 109 quoting Burtt., p. 49, again.] A. The three characteristics 1. Dukka [suffering]Use this note during lecture2 2. Anitta [transience] 3. Anatta [ultimate unreality of the atman self]3 F. The Four Noble Truths {See SOURCEBOOK, p. 273 ff., for focused readings on the following} * 1. Life is DUKKA [suffering] a. Birth is; b. sickness is; c. decrepitude is; d. fear of death; e. attachment to what one abhors f. separation from what we love. g. The Five SKANDAS4 are suffering as well 1. body [rupa]; 2. perception [jamjna] 3. feelings [vedana] 4. samskharas ["configurations", "innate tendencies" "predispositions"--patterns of repetition.5 or volitional dispositions.6 5. ideation, reasoning or intelligence [vijnana] *2. Suffering is caused by desire [tanha, HUSTON SMITH sees this as egoistic desire] *3. Suffering can be eliminated by eliminating tanha. *4. Tanha can be eliminated by following the Eightfold Path. A. The Eightfold Path7 [9fold, allowing for Smith's inference of the preliminary step of right association, which does not seem [to me] to be a necessary condition. 1. Right knowledge; a) of the three aspects and the 4 noble truths. b) Smith makes the useful point that reason must at least not interfere with a clear kavanah for it to remain clear and effective. 2. Right aspiration/intention == kavanah; 3. Right speech; a) charity [transego] b) avoid deceit [ego protective] 4. Right behavior; a) The first Five Precepts of the Ten Precepts [quoting Noss 113, replacing Arabic with Roman numerals]: (1) Refrain from destroying life (the principle of ahimsa). 160 (2) Do not take what is not given. (3) Abstain from unchastity. (4) Do not lie or deceive. (5) Abstain from intoxicants. (6) Eat moderately and not after noon. (7) Do not look on at dancing, singing, or dramatic spectacles. (8) Do not affect the use of garlands, scents, unguents, or ornaments. (9) Do not use high or broad beds. (10) Do not accept gold of silver. 5. Right occupation 6. Right effort [for the long haul, if necessary] a) with an awareness that too much oil drowns the wick. 7. Right mindfulness.[alertness, and self- examination] a) discuss the relation of this to psychological theories of restriction of our experience, and the Buddhist emphasis on attaining to the truth. 8. Right absorption [HUSTON SMITH], rapture of concentration [SOURCEBOOK.] G. Basic Buddhist Concepts [HUSTON SMITH 123ff.] [May 8, 1986 11:49 AM]+++ 1. Nirvana: "blowing out, extinction". a. Again the problem of ineffability i. relationship to mystics' "God" 2. Anatta" a. Discuss in terms of Whiteheadian inheritance, using the Buddhist example of transferring flame from one candle to another through a series. b. and in terms of the denial of substance, c. relationship to questions such as "where does the fire go when it's out"; "where did the light go when I turned off the switch?".

III. "BIG RAFT AND LITTLE" [HUSTON SMITH PP.

132FF.] A. HUSTON SMITH 3 questions that divide people: (relate this to William James' distinction between tough and tender minded===which will be looked at in more detail in later section of philosophy 201/philosophical perspectives) . 1. independence or interdependence of persons 2. relationship of individual to the universe a. at odds or in harmony 3. which is best part of the individual, head or heart? B. Mahayana [focus on Buddha's LIFE] 1. individual salvation tied in with salvation of others, the tender-minded school 2. the key virtue is karuna, compassion 3. Centers on laymen--bodhisattva ideal C. Hinayana [Theravada==include this note8-- focus on Buddha's TEACHINGS] 1. The human person is fundamentally alone, and each of us is responsible for his/her own salvation. 2. The key virtue is bodhi [wisdom] 3. Centers on Monks--Arhat ideal CHART P 138 SMITH: THERAVADA MAHAYANA9 Person as individual Person as involved with others Emancipation by self-effort Salvation by grace Key virtue: Wisdom Compassion Religion full-time {monks central} Lay people important Arhat ideal Bodhisattva ideal Buddha a saint Buddha a savior Eschews metaphysics Elaborates metaphysics Eschews ritual Includes Ritual Confines prayer to meditation Includes petitionary prayers Conservative Liberal Ceylon, Burma, Thailand, Mongolia Tibet China Cambodia Korea Japan according to HS, unified 5 Major divisions including Zen

IV. ZEN [TRACES ITSELF BACK TO THE FLOWER SERMON]

a. The problem of words [the five colors . . .] b. Bodhidharma [520 CE to China]"A special transmission outside the scriptures." c. The training: zazen, koan, sanzen [consultation with the master] 1. Satori i. Ordinariness involved [before I studied Zen, mountains were mountains . . .] ii. actor in circumstance [work] iii. Peak experience, full awareness iv. not-two v. ox-herding pictures [314 ff. 3 PILLARS.] 2. Influence on Japanese culture i. sumi [black ink landscape painting] ii. gardening iii. flower arrangement iv. tea v. bushido

V. VAJRAYANA: THE DIAMOND WAY

Orig, "thunderbolt of Indra, in Mahayana, becomes B's diamond scepter. HS sees it Tibetan Buddhism as Tantric Buddhism, with Tantra explained as "Extension" and as "interpenetration" (as in weaving). The system is distinguished in that it claims to allow one to gain nirvana in one lifetime. By employing all energies. Known for its inclusion of sexual energy. HS thinks "What distinguishes Tantra is the way it wholeheartedly espouses sex as a spiritual ally, working with it explicitly and intentionally" keeping "the physical and spiritual components of the love/sex splice in strict conjunction . . . "[p. 141] Movement and sound and image in meditation and prayer. Mantras, Mudras, Mandalas Dalai Lama as bodhisattva manifestation of compassion "an activity of presence" 144, discuss_
END NOTES 1Though my notes on Buddhism and Hinduism are all in deep debt to and close followings of Smith, the "Buddha preached a religion devoid of . . ." sections are direct quotes and should be presented with acknowledgment. 2SMith, p. 111f, discusses the Pali term as having to do with being off-center, or out of joint-- dislocated, like HHH's shoulders.. 3Here I am relying on Noss, 118. 4Smith describes the word as meaning SKEINS on p. 129. 5Here I am relying on Noss, p. 116. 6See SOURCEBOOK IN INDIAN PHILOSOPHY, p. 272. Note that there is a reference there to a SOURCEBOOK IN BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY then [1957] being planned; try to find it. 7 115 ff., Smith; p.277f., SOURCEBOOK IN INDIAN PHILOSOPHY. 8"Little raft--Way of the Elders" 9Very close rendering of HUSTON SMITH, p. 138.
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