What Buddhism Is

This is the first of three lectures given by Sayagyi U Ba Khin 1951
to the Religion in Life Forum,
in the Methodist English Church of Signal Pagoda Road, Rangoon.

Lecture No. 1 (September 23, 1951)

I consider it a great privilege to be in your midst today and to have this opportunity of addressing you on the subject of What Buddhism Is. At the outset, I must be very frank with you. I have not been to a university and I have no knowledge of science except as a man in the street. Nor am I a scholar in the theory of Buddhism with any knowledge of Pali, the language in which the Tipitakas (literally, the "Three Baskets" of Buddha-Dhamma) are maintained. I may say, however, that I have read in Burmese to some extent the treatises on Buddhism by well-known and learned Buddhist monks. As my approach to Buddhism is more by practical than by theoretical means, I hope to be able to give you something of Buddhism which is not easily available elsewhere. I must admit, however, that for the time being I am just a student of practical Buddhism, an experimentalist trying to learn through Buddhism the truth of the nature of forces. As this has to be done as a householder and within a limited time available in between the multifarious duties of a responsible officer of Government, the progress is rather slow and I do not claim for a moment that what I am going to say is absolutely correct. I may be right or wrong. But when I say a thing, I assure you that it is with a sincerity of purpose, with the best of intentions and with conviction.

The Lord Buddha said in the Kalama Sutta: [1]

"Do not believe in what you have heard; do not believe in tradi tions because they have been handed down for many generations; do not believe in anything because it is rumoured and spoken by many; do not believe merely because a written statement of some old sage is produced; do not believe in conjectures; do not be lieve in that as truth to which you have become attached from habit; do not believe merely the authority of your teachers and elders. After observation and analysis, when it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and gain of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."

Pray do not, therefore, believe me when I come to the philosophical issues until and unless you are convinced of what I say, either as a sequel to proper reasoning or by means of a practical approach.

To abstain from evil,
To do good,
To purify the mind,
These are the teachings of all the Buddhas.

Dhammapada, verse 14

This extract taken from the Dhammapada gives in brief the essence of Buddhism. It sounds simple, but is so difficult to practise. One cannot be a true Buddhist unless one puts the doctrine of the Buddha into practice. The Buddha said: [2]

"You, to whom the truths I have perceived have been made known by me, make them truly your own, practise them, meditate upon them, spread them abroad: in order that the pure religion may last long and be perpetuated for the good and the gain and the well-being of gods and men."

Before I take up the teachings of the Buddha, which form the basic foundation of Buddhism, I propose to acquaint you, first of all, with the life story of Gotama Buddha. For this purpose, I feel it is my duty to give you a background of certain Buddhist concepts which may be foreign to most of you. I propose, therefore, to give you a short descriptive explanation of such concepts in Buddhism as the Universe, the World-system, the planes of existence, etc. These will, no doubt, give you some food for thought. I would, however, appeal to you to give a patient hearing and to pass over these matters for the time being, i.e., until we come to the question time for discussion.

The Universe

The Buddhist concept of the Universe may be summed up as follows: There is the Okasa Loka (the Universe of Space) which accommodates Nama and Rupa (Mind and Matter). In this mundane world, it is Nama and Rupa (Mind and Matter) which predominate under the influence of the law of Cause and Effect. Next is the Sankhara Loka (the Universe of Mental Forces), creative or created. This is a mental plane arising out of the creative energies of Mind through the medium of bodily actions, words and thoughts. The third and last is the Satta Loka (the Universe of Sentient Beings) visible or invisible, beings that are the products of these mental forces; we may rather call these three the "Three-in-One" universe, because each is inseparable from the others. They are, so to speak, interwoven and interpenetrating.

What will interest you most are the Cakkavalas or World-systems, each with its thirty-one planes of existence. Each World-system corresponds to the Human World with its solar system and other planes of existence. There are millions and millions of such World-systems; they are simply innumerable. The ten thousand World-systems closest to us are within the Jati-khetta (or the Field of Origin) of a Buddha. In fact, when the renowned Sutta (or discourse), the Maha-Samaya (meaning the "Great Occasion") was preached by the Buddha in the Mahavana (forest) near the town of Kapilavatthu, not only the Brahmas and Devas of our World-system but of all the ten thousand World-systems were present to listen to the teachings of the Buddha.[3]

The Lord Buddha can also send his thought-waves charged with boundless love and compassion to the sentient beings of a billion such World-systems within the Ana-khetta (the Field of Influence). The remainder of the World- systems are in the Visaya-khetta (infinite space), beyond the reach of the Buddha's effective thought waves. You can very well imagine from these concepts of Buddhism the size of the Universe as a whole. The material insignificance of our World in the Okasa Loka (the Universe of Space) is simply terrifying. The Human World, as a whole, must be just a speck in space.

Now I will give you an idea of the thirty-one planes of existence in our World-system, which, of course, is the same as in any of the other World-systems. Broadly speaking, they are:

Arupa Loka The Immaterial Worlds of the Brahmas
Rupa Loka The Fine-material Worlds of the Brahmas
Kama Loka The Sensuous Worlds of Devas, mankind and lower beings.

The Arupa Loka is composed of four Brahma Worlds of immaterial state, i.e., without Rupa or Matter. The Rupa Loka is composed of sixteen Brahma Worlds of fine-material state. The Kama Loka is composed of:

Six Deva Lokas (or Celestial Worlds):
1. Catumaharajika (the World of the Four Guardian Kings)
2. Tavatimsa (the World of the Thirty-three)
3. Yama
4. Tusita
5. Nimmanarati (those who enjoy their own creations)
6. Paranimmita-vasavati (those who enjoy others' creations)
The Human World
The four Lower Worlds (Apaya):
1. Niraya (Hell)
2. Tiracchana (Animal World)
3. Peta (Ghost World)
4. Asura (Demon World)

These planes of existence are pure or impure, cool or hot, luminous or dark, light or heavy, pleasant or wretched -- according to the character of the mental forces generated by the Mind through the volition (Cetana) associated with a series of actions, words and thoughts. For example, take the case of a religious man who suffuses the whole universe of beings with boundless love and compassion. He must be generating such mental forces as are pure, cooling, luminous, light and pleasant, forces which normally settle down in the Brahma Worlds. Let us now take the reverse case of a man who is dissatisfied or angry. As the saying goes, "The face reflects the mind." The impurity, heat, darkness, heaviness and wretchedness of his mind are immediately reflected in the person -- visible even to the naked eye. This is due, I may say, to the generation of the evil mental forces of Dosa (anger) which go down to the lower worlds of existence. This is also the case for the mental forces arising out of Lobha (greed) or Moha (delusion). In the case of meritorious deeds such as devotion, morality and charity, which have at their base attachment to future well-being, the mental forces generated are such as will normally be located in the sensuous planes of Devas (celestial beings) and of Mankind. These, ladies and gentlemen, are some of the concepts in Buddhism relevant to the life story of Gotama Buddha.

The Preparation to Become a Buddha [4]

Gotama Buddha is the fourth of the five Buddhas to rise in the World- cycle which is known as a Bhadda Kappa (an auspicious world-cycle). His predecessors were the Buddhas Kakusanda, Konagamana and Kassapa. There were also innumerable Buddhas who arose in earlier world-cycles and who preached the very same Dhamma that gives deliverance from suffering and death to all matured beings. Buddhas are all compassionate, glorious and enlightened. A hermit by the name of Sumedha was inspired by Buddha Dipankara -- so much so, that he took the vow to make all the necessary preparations to become a Buddha in the course of time. Buddha Dipankara gave him his blessings and prophesied that he would become a Buddha by the name of Gotama after a lapse of four incalculable periods [5] of world-cycles plus one hundred thousand world-cycles (Kappas). From then onwards, existence after existence, the Bodhisatta (future Buddha) conserved mental energies of the highest order through the practice of the ten Paramitas (or Paramis, Virtues leading toward Perfection):

- Dana Parami - Virtue in Alms-giving (or generosity)
- Sila Parami - Morality
- Nekkhamma Parami - Renunciation
- Panna Parami - Wisdom
- Viriya Parami - Great effort (or perseverance)
- Khanti Parami - Forbearance (or patience)
- Sacca Parami - Truthfulness
- Aditthana Parami - Determination
- Metta Parami - All-embracing Love
- Upekkha Parami - Equanimity

It is, therefore, a most arduous task to become a Buddha. Utmost strength of will-power is necessary even to think of it. The Bodhisatta's preparatory period came to an end with the life of King Vessantara [6] who excelled any living being in Alms-giving. He gave away his kingdom, his wife and his children and all his worldly possessions, for the consummation of his solemn vow taken before the Buddha Dipankara. The next existence was in the Tusita (celestial plane) as the glorious Deva Setaketu, until he got his release from that plane of existence and took conception in the womb of Maya Devi, the queen of King Suddhodana of Kapilavatthu, a place near modern Nepal. When time was drawing near for her confinement, the queen expressed her desire to go to the place of her own parents for the event. King Suddhodana accordingly sent her there with a befitting retinue and guards. On the way, a halt was made at the Lumbini Grove. She descended from her palanquin and enjoyed the cool breeze and fragrance of Sal flowers. While holding out her right hand to a branch of a nearby Sal tree for a flower, all of a sudden and unexpectedly, she gave birth to a son who was to become the All-Enlightened Buddha. Simultaneously, the natural order of things in the cosmos was revolutionized in many respects and thirty-two wonderful phenomena were vivified. All material worlds were shaken from their foundation up. There were unusual illuminations in the solar system. All the beings of the material planes could see each other. The deaf and dumb were cured. Celestial music was heard everywhere, and so on.

At that moment, Kaladevala, the hermit teacher of King Suddhodana, was discoursing with the celestial beings of the Tavatimsa Deva world. He was a hermit of fame who had mastered the eight attainments (Samapattis) which gave him super-normal powers. Learning of the birth of a son to the king in the midst of the rejoicing in all the Rupa and Kama worlds, he hurried back to the palace and desired the baby to be brought before him for his blessings. As the king was about to place the baby before his teacher for the occasion, a marvel took place. The baby rose into the air and rested his tiny feet on the head of Kaladevala who at once understood that the baby was no other than the Embryonic Buddha. He smiled at this knowledge, but cried almost immediately thereafter, because he foresaw that he would not live to hear his teachings, and that after his death, he would be in the Arupa Brahma Loka (the Immaterial Planes of the Brahmas) whence he would have no relationship with any of the material planes. He regretted bitterly that he would miss the Buddha and his teachings.

On the fifth day, the child was named Siddhattha in the presence of renowned astrologer-palmists who agreed that the child had all the characteristics of a Buddha-to-be. His mother, the queen, however, died a week after her confinement, and the child was taken care of by his maternal aunt, Pajapati-Gotami. Siddhattha spent his early years in ease, luxury and culture. He was acclaimed to be a prodigy in both intellect and strength. The king spared no pains to make the course of his life smooth. Three separate palaces were built to suit the three seasons (hot, cold, and rainy) with all the necessities that would make the prince sink in sensuality. That was because the king, out of paternal affection, desired his son to remain in worldly life as a king rather than become an Enlightened Buddha. King Suddhodana was ever watchful that his son should be in an environment that would give him no chance for higher philosophical ideas. In order to make sure that the thoughts of the prince would never turn in this direction, he ordered that nobody serving him or in his association was ever to speak a single word about such things as old age, sickness or death. They were to act as if there were no unpleasant things in this world. Servants and attendants who showed the least sign of growing old, weak or sickly were replaced. On the other hand, there was dancing, music and enjoyable parties right through, to keep him under a complete shade of sensuality.

The Great Renunciation

As days, months and years passed, however, the monotony of the sensual surroundings gradually lost their hold over the mind of Prince Siddhatta. The mental energies of virtue conserved in all his earlier innumerable lives for the great goal of Buddhahood were automatically aroused. At times, when the world of sensuality lost control over his mind, his inner self worked its way up and raised his mind to a state of purity and tranquillity with the strength of Samadhi (concentration) such as had raised his baby form into space and onto the head of Kaladevala. The war of nerves began. An escape from sensuality and passion was his first consideration. He wanted to know what existed outside the walls of the palace, for he had not gone out even once. He wished to see Nature as it is and not as man has made it. Accordingly, he decided to see the Royal Park, outside the palace walls. On the way to the park, in spite of the precautions taken by the king to get the roads clear of unpleasant sights, he saw an old man bent with age on the very first visit. Next he saw a sick person in the agony of a fatal malady. Thereafter he met with a human corpse. On the last trip he came across a monk. All these predisposed his mind to serious thinking. His mental attitude was changed. His mind became clear of impurities and tuned up with the forces of his own virtues conserved in the Sankhara Loka (the plane of mental forces). By then his mind had become freed from hindrances, was tranquil, pure and strong. It all happened on the night when a son was born to his wife, a new fetter to bind him down. He was, however, immune to anything which would tend to upset the equilibrium of his mind. The virtues of determination worked their way for a strong resolve and he made up his mind to seek the way of escape from birth, old age, suffering and death. It was midnight when the solemn determination was made. He asked his attendant Channa to keep his stallion Khanthaka ready. After a parting look at his wife and the newly born babe, Prince Siddhattha broke away from all the ties of family and of the world and made the Great Renunciation. He rode across the town to the river Anoma, which he crossed, never to return until his mission had been achieved.

The Search for Truth

After this Great Renunciation, Prince Siddhattha went around in search of possible teachers in the garb of a wandering ascetic with a begging bowl in his hand. He placed himself under the spiritual guidance of two renowned Brahman teachers, Alara and Uddaka. Alara laid stress on the belief in the atman (soul) and taught that the soul attained perfect release when freed from material limitations. This did not satisfy the prince. He next went to Uddaka who emphasized too much the effect of Kamma (volitional actions) and the transmigration of the soul. Both could not get out of the conception of "soul" and the prince ascetic felt that there was something else to learn. He, therefore, left both of them to work out the way to emancipation on his own. By that time, of course, he had learned the eight attainments (Samapattis) and had become an adept in the exercise of all the supernormal powers including the ability to read events of many world- cycles to come and a similar period of the past. These were all in the mundane field and they did not much concern the prince ascetic, whose ambition had been an escape from this mundane field of birth, suffering and death.

He was joined later by five ascetics, one of whom, Kondanna by name, was the astrologer-palmist who definitely foretold on the fifth day after his birth that he would surely become a Buddha. These ascetics served him well throughout the six years during which he was engaged in fastings and meditation, subjecting himself to various forms of rigorous austerities and discipline till he was reduced to almost a skeleton. In fact, one day, he fell down in a swoon through exhaustion. When he survived this condition, he changed his method, followed a middle course and found the way to his Enlightenment was clearer.

The Attainment of Buddhahood

It was on the eve of the full-moon day of Vesakha[7] just 2540 years ago [i.e., from 1951] that Prince Siddhattha, a wandering ascetic, sat cross- legged beneath a Bodhi tree on the bank of the river Neranjara in the Forest of Uruvela (near present day Buddhagaya) -- with the strongest of determinations -- not to rise from that posture on any account until he gained the Truth and Enlightenment, Buddhahood -- even if the attempt might mean the loss of his very life.

The great event was approaching. The prince ascetic mustered up all his strength of mind to secure that one-pointedness of mind which is so essential for the discovery of Truth. The balancing of the mind, the prince found on this occasion, was not so easy as hitherto. There was not only the combination of the mental forces of the Lower Planes with those of the Higher Planes all around him, but also interferences strong enough to upset, off and on, the equilibrium of his mind. The resistance of the impenetrable masses of forces against the radiation of the light normally secured by him was unusual, perhaps because it was a final bid for Buddhahood, and Mara, the supreme controller of evil forces, was behind the scenes. The prince, however, worked his way through slowly but surely, backed up by the mental forces of virtues which must inevitably come back to him at the right moment. He made a vow and called upon all the Brahmas and Devas who had witnessed the fulfilment of his ten great Perfections to join hands with him in the struggle for supremacy. This done, the association with the transcendingly pure mental forces of the Brahmas and Devas had salutary effect. The thick masses of forces, which seemed impenetrable for a time, broke away and with steady improvement in the control over the mind, they were wiped out once and for all. All the hindrances having been overcome, the prince was able to raise his power of concentration and put the mind to a state of complete purity, tranquillity and equanimity. Gradually, the consciousness of true insight possessed him. The solution to the vital problems which confronted him made its appearance in his consciousness as an inspiration. By introspective meditation on the realities of nature in his own self, it came vividly to him that there is no substantiality, as there seems to be, in the human body and that it is nothing but the sum total of innumerable millions of Kalapas, each about the size of 1/46,656th part of a particle of dust raised by the wheel of a chariot in summer. On further investigation, he realized that this Kalapa also is matter in constant change or flux. So also with the mind, which is a representation of the mental forces (creative) going out and the mental forces (created) coming into the system of an individual continually and throughout eternity.

The Buddha then proclaimed that the Eye of Wisdom (Panna-cakkhu) arose when he overcame all false perception of substantiality within his own self. He saw by means of the lens of Samadhi (concentration) the Kalapas on which he next applied the law of Anicca (impermanence) and reduced them to nonentity or behaviour, doing away with what we, in Buddhism, call Pannatti (concept) and coming to a state of Paramattha, understanding the nature of forces or, in other words, Ultimate reality.

Accordingly, he came to a realization of the perpetual change of mind and matter in himself (Anicca) and as a sequel thereto the Truth of Suffering (Dukkha). It was then that the ego-centralism in him broke down into the void and he got over to a stage beyond Suffering (Dukkha Nirodha) with no more traces of Atta, or attachment to self, left behind. Mind-and- matter were to him but empty phenomena which roll on forever, within the range of the Law of Cause and Effect and the Law of Dependent Origination. The Truth was realized. The inherent qualities of an Embryonic Buddha then developed and complete Enlightenment came to him by the dawn of Vesakha. Verily, Prince Siddhattha attained Samma-Sambodhi (Supreme Enlightenment) and became the Buddha, the Awakened One, the Enlightened One -- the All- Knowing One. He was awake in a way compared with which all others were asleep and dreaming. He was enlightened in a way compared with which all other men were stumbling and groping in the dark. He knew with a knowledge compared with which all that other men knew was but a kind of ignorance.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have taken so much of your time today. I thank you all for your patient listening. I must also thank the clergy of the church for their kind permission given to me for this address.

FOOTNOTES:

Gradual Sayings, I, pp. 171f. References, unless otherwise specified, are to the publications of the Pali Text Society.

See the Buddha's instructions to his first disciples in The Book of the Discipline, IV, p. 28.

This Sutta is found in Dialogues of the Buddha, II, pp. 284-293.

For more details concerning past Buddhas, the ascetic Sumedha's vow to become a Buddha, and Buddha Gotama's life, see The Clarifier of the Sweet Meaning (the commentary on The Chronicle of Buddhas).

An "incalculable" (asankheyya) is equal to a number equivalent to a "1" followed by 140 ciphers.

See Jataka Stories, no 547.

Or Wesak, the full-moon day of the month of Kason in the Burmese calendar.

Lecture No. 2 (September 30, 1951)
Lecture No. 3 (October 14, 1951)

Published by the Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Trust, IMC-UK, Splatts House, Heddington, Calne, Wiltshire SN11 0PE, England,
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