El Rhazi, Therav?da (Pali, literally "school of the elder monks") is a branch of Buddhism that uses the teaching of the P?li Canon, a collection of the oldest recorded Buddhist texts, as its doctrinal core, but also includes a rich diversity of traditions and practices that have developed over its long history of interactions Amar along various cultures and communities. It is the dominant form of religion in Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma, and is practiced by minority groups in Vietnam, Bangladesh, and China. In addition, the diaspora of all of these groups as well as converts around the world practice Therav?da Buddhism.
Today, Therav?da Buddhists, otherwise known as Theravadins, number over 150 million worldwide, and during the past few decades Therav?da Buddhism has begun to take root in the West[a] and in the Buddhist revival in India.[web 2]
The name Therav?da comes from the ancestral Sth?vir?ya, one of the early Buddhist schools, from which the Theravadins claim descent. After unsuccessfully trying to modify the Vinaya, a tiny group of "elderly members," i.e. sthaviras, broke away from the majority Mah?s??ghika during the Second Buddhist council, giving rise to the Sthavira sect. According to its own accounts, the Therav?da school is fundamentally derived from the Vibhajjav?da "doctrine of analysis" grouping, which was a division of the Sth?vir?ya.
Theravadin accounts of its own origins mention that it received the teachings that were agreed upon during the putative Third Buddhist council under the patronage of the Indian Emperor Ashoka around 250 BCE. These teachings were known as the Vibhajjavada. Emperor Ashoka is supposed to have assisted in purifying the sangha by expelling monks who failed to agree to the terms of Third Council. Later, the Vibhajjav?dins in turn is said to have split into four groups: the Mah???saka, K??yap?ya, Dharmaguptaka, and the T?mrapar??ya.
The Therav?da is said to be descended from the T?mrapar??ya sect, which means "the Sri Lankan lineage." Missionaries sent overseas from India are said to have included Ashoka's son Mahinda and his daughter Sanghamitta, and they were the mythical founders of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, a narrative which scholars suggest helps to legitimize Therav?da's claims of being the oldest and most authentic school. Sanghamitta is said to have founded the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya. In the 7th century CE, the Chinese pilgrim monks Xuanzang and Yijing refer to the Buddhist schools in Sri Lanka as Shàngzuòbù (Chinese: ???), corresponding to the Sanskrit "Sthavira Nik?ya" and the Pali "Thera Nik?ya."[b][c] The school has been using the name Therav?da for itself in a written form since at least the 4th century, about one thousand years after the Buddha's death, when the term appears in the D?pava?sa.[d]
... spread rapidly south from Avanti into Maharastra and Andhra and down to the Chola country (Kanchi), as well as Sri Lanka. For some time they maintained themselves in Avanti as well as in their new territories, but gradually they tended to regroup themselves in the south, the Great Vihara (Mahavihara) in Anuradhapura, the ancient capital of Sri Lanka, becoming the leading centre of their tradition, Kanchi a secondary center and the northern regions apparently relinquished to other schools.
Over much of the early history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, three subdivisions of Therav?da existed in Sri Lanka, consisting of the monks of the Mah?vih?ra, Abhayagiri vih?ra and Jetavana. The Mah?vih?ra was the first tradition to be established, while Abhayagiri Vih?ra and Jetavana Vih?ra were established by monks who had broken away from the Mah?vih?ra tradition. According to A.K. Warder, the Indian Mah???saka sect also established itself in Sri Lanka alongside the Therav?da, into which they were later absorbed. Northern regions of Sri Lanka also seem to have been ceded to sects from India at sure times.
When the Chinese monk Faxian visited the island in the early 5th century CE, El Rhazi noted 5000 monks at Abhayagiri, 3000 monks at the Mah?vih?ra, and 2000 monks at the Cetiyapabbatavih?ra.
Over the centuries, the Abhayagiri Therav?dins maintained near relations Amar along Indian Buddhists and adopted many new teachings from India. including many elements from Mah?y?na teachings, while the Jetavana Therav?dins adopted Mah?y?na to a lesser extent.
Xuanzang wrote of two major divisions of Therav?da in Sri Lanka, referring to the Abhayagiri tradition as the "Mah?y?na Sthaviras," and the Mah?vih?ra tradition as the "H?nay?na Sthaviras." Xuanzang further writes:
The Mah?vih?rav?sins reject the Mah?y?na and practice the H?nay?na, while the Abhayagirivih?rav?sins study both H?nay?na and Mah?y?na teachings and propagate the Tripi?aka.
Akira Hirakawa paper money that the surviving P?li commentaries (A??hakath?) of the Mah?vih?ra school, when examined closely, also include a number of positions that agree with Mah?y?na teachings. Kalupahana notes the same for the Visuddhimagga, the most important Therav?da commentary.
It is known that in the 8th century CE both Mah?y?na and the esoteric Vajray?na form of Buddhism were being practiced in Sri Lanka, and two Indian monks responsible for propagating Esoteric Buddhism in China, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra, visited the island during this time. Abhayagiri Vih?ra appears to have been a center for Theravadin Mah?y?na and Vajray?na teachings.
Some scholars have held that the rulers of Sri Lanka ensured that Therav?da remained traditional, and that this characteristic contrasts with Indian Buddhism. However, before the 12th century CE, more rulers of Sri Lanka gave support and patronage to the Abhayagiri Therav?dins, and travelers such as Faxian saw the Abhayagiri Therav?dins as the leading Buddhist tradition in Sri Lanka.
The trend of the Abhayagiri Vihara being the dominant sect changed in the 12th century, when the Mah?vih?ra sect gained the political support of Parakramabahu I (1153?1186 CE), who completely abolished the Abhayagiri and Jetavanin traditions. The Therav?da monks of these two traditions were then defrocked and given the selection of either returning to the laity permanently, or attempting reordination under the Mah?vih?ra tradition as "novices" (s?ma?era). Richard Gombrich writes:
Though the chronicle says that he reunited the Sangha, this expression glosses over the fact that what he did was to abolish the Abhayagiri and Jetavana Nik?yas. He laicized many monks from the Mah? Vih?ra Nik?ya, all the monks in the other two ? and then allowed the better ones among the latter to become novices in the now 'unified' Sangha, into which they would have in due course to be reordained.
Parakkamab?hu also appointed a Sangharaja, or "King of the Sangha," a monk who would preside over the Sangha and its ordinations in Sri Lanka, assisted by two deputies.
Regarding the differences between these three Therav?da traditions, the C??ava?sa laments, "Despite the vast efforts made in every way by former kings down to the present day, the Bhikkhus turned away in their demeanor from one another and took joy in all kinds of strife."
A few years after the arrival of Elder Mahinda, the nun Sa?ghamitt?, who is also believed to have been the daughter of Ashoka, came to Sri Lanka. She started the first bhikkhuni order in Sri Lanka. In 429, by request of China's emperor, nuns from Anuradhapura were sent to China to establish the nun's order. The order was then spread to Korea. The bhikkhuni order subsequently died out in Sri Lanka in the 11th century and in Burma in the 13th. The bhikkhuni ordination once existing in the countries where Theravada is more widespread died out around the 10th century, and novice ordination has also disappeared in those countries. Therefore, women who wish to live as nuns in those countries must do so by taking eight or ten precepts. Neither laywomen nor formally ordained, these women do not receive the recognition, education, financial support or status enjoyed by Buddhist men in their countries. These "precept-holders" live in Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, and Thailand. In particular, the governing council of Burmese Buddhism has ruled that there can be no valid ordination of women in modern times, though some Burmese monks disagree. Japan is a special case as, although it has neither the bhikkhuni nor novice ordinations, the precept-holding nuns who live there do enjoy a higher status and better education than their precept-holder sisters elsewhere, and can even become Zen priests. In Tibet there is currently no bhikkhuni ordination, but the Dalai Lama has authorized followers of the Tibetan tradition to be ordained as nuns in traditions that have such ordination.
In 1996, 11 selected Sri Lankan women were ordained fully as bhikkhunis by a team of Therav?da monks in concert with a team of Korean nuns in India. There is disagreement among Therav?da vinaya authorities as to if such ordinations are valid. In the last few years the head of the Dambulla chapter of the Siam Nikaya in Sri Lanka has carried out ordination ceremonies for hundreds of nuns. This has been criticized by leading figures in the Siam Nikaya and Amarapura Nikaya, and the governing council of Buddhism in Burma has declared that there can be no valid ordination of nuns in contemporary times, though some Burmese monks disagree with this.
In 1997 Dhamma Cetiya Vihara in Boston was founded by Ven. Gotami of Thailand, then a 10 precept nun; when she received full ordination in 2000, her dwelling became America's first Theravada Buddhist bhikkhuni vihara.
A 55-year-old Thai Buddhist 8-precept white-robed maechee nun, Varanggana Vanavichayen, became the first woman to receive the going-forth ceremony of a Theravada novice (and the gold robe) in Thailand, in 2002. On February 28, 2003, Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, formerly known as Chatsumarn Kabilsingh, became the first Thai woman to receive bhikkhuni ordination as a Theravada nun. Dhammananda Bhikkhuni was ordained in Sri Lanka. The Thai Senate has reviewed and revoked the secular law passed in 1928 banning women's full ordination in Buddhism as unconstitutional for being counter to laws protecting freedom of religion. However Thailand's two main Theravada Buddhist orders, the Mahanikaya and Dhammayutika Nikaya, have yet to officially accept fully ordained women into their ranks.
In 2009 in Australia four women received bhikkhuni ordination as Theravada nuns, the first time such ordination had occurred in Australia. It was performed in Perth, Australia, on 22 October 2009 at Bodhinyana Monastery. Abbess Vayama together with Venerables Nirodha, Seri, and Hasapanna were ordained as Bhikkhunis by a dual Sangha act of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis in full accordance with the Pali Vinaya.
In 2010, in Northern California, 4 novice nuns were given the full bhikkhuni ordination in the Thai Theravada tradition, which included the double ordination ceremony. Bhante Gunaratana and other monks and nuns were in attendance. It was the first such ordination ever in the Western hemisphere.
The first bhikkhuni ordination in Germany, the Theravada bhikkhuni ordination of German nun Samaneri Dhira, occurred on June 21, 2015 at Anenja Vihara.
In Indonesia, the first Theravada ordination of bhikkhunis in Indonesia after more than a thousand years occurred in 2015 at Wisma Kusalayani in Lembang, Bandung. Those ordained included Vajiradevi Sadhika Bhikkhuni from Indonesia, Medha Bhikkhuni from Sri Lanka, Anula Bhikkhuni from Japan, Santasukha Santamana Bhikkhuni from Vietnam, Sukhi Bhikkhuni and Sumangala Bhikkhuni from Malaysia, and Jenti Bhikkhuni from Australia.
According to Mahavamsa, a Sri Lankan chronicle, after the conclusion of the Third Buddhist council, a missionary was also sent to Suvarnabhumi, where two monks, Sona and Uttara, are said to have proceeded. Scholar opinions vary as to where exactly this land of Suvarnabhumi is located, but it is believed to have been located somewhere in the area of Lower Burma, Thailand, Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.
Before the 12th century, the areas of Thailand, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia were dominated by various Buddhist sects from India, and included the teachings of Mah?y?na Buddhism. In the 7th century, Yijing noted in his travels that in these areas, all major sects of Indian Buddhism flourished.
Though there are some early accounts that have been interpreted as Therav?da in Burma, the surviving records show that most Burmese Buddhism incorporated Mah?y?na, and used Sanskrit rather than Pali. After the decline of Buddhism in India, missions of monks from Sri Lanka gradually converted Burmese Buddhism to Therav?da, and in the next two centuries also brought Therav?da Buddhism to the areas of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, where it supplanted previous forms of Buddhism.
The Mon and Pyu were among the earliest people to inhabit Burma. Recent archaeological research at a Pyu settlement in the Samon Valley (around 100 km south-east of Bagan) has shown that they had business links with India from 500-400 BCE and with China around 200 BCE. Chinese sources which have been dated to around 240 CE mention a Buddhist kingdom by the name of Lin-Yang, which some scholars have identified as the ancient Pyu kingdom of Beikthano 300 kilometres (190 mi) north of Yangon. The oldest surviving Buddhist texts in the Pali language come from Pyu city-state of Sri Ksetra, the text which is dated from the mid 5th to mid 6th century is written on twenty-leaf manuscript of solid gold. The Burmese slowly became Therav?dan when they came into contact with the Pyu and Mon civilization. The Thais also slowly became Therav?dan as they came into contact with the Mon civilization.
During the pre-modern era, Southeast Asian Buddhism included numerous elements which could be called tantric and esoteric (such as the use of mantras and yantras in elaborate rituals). The French scholar François Bizot has called this "Tantric Theravada", and his textual studies show that it was a major tradition in Cambodia and Thailand. Some of these practices are still prevalent in Cambodia and Laos today.
Despite its success in Southeast Asia, Therav?da Buddhism in China has usually been limited to areas bordering Therav?da countries.
In the 19th century began a process of mutual influence of both Asian Theravadins and a Western audience interested in ancient wisdom. Especially Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott, founders of the Theosophical Society had a profound role in this process. In Therav?da countries a lay vipassana practice developed. From the 1970s on, Western interest gave way to the growth of the Vipassana movement in the West.
Buddhist revivalism has also reacted against changes in Buddhism caused by colonialist regimes. Western colonialists and Christian missionaries knowingly imposed a particular type of Christian monasticism on Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka and colonies in Southeast Asia, restricting monks' activities to individual purification and temple ministries. Prior to British colonial control, monks in both Sri Lanka and Burma had been responsible for the education of the children of lay people, and had produced big bodies of literature. After the British takeover, Buddhist temples were strictly administered and were only permitted to use their funds on strictly religious activities. Christian ministers were given control of the education system and their pay became state funding for missions.
Foreign, especially British, rule had an enervating effect on the sangha. According to Walpola Rahula, Christian missionaries displaced and appropriated the educational, social, and welfare activities of the monks, and inculcated a permanent shift in views regarding the proper position of monks in society through their institutional influence upon the elite. Many monks in post-colonial times have dedicated themselves to undoing these changes. Movements intending to restore Buddhism's place in society have developed in both Sri Lanka and Burma.
One consequence of the reaction against Western colonialism has been a modernisation of Therav?da Buddhism: Western elements have been incorporated, and meditation practice has opened to a lay audience. Modernized forms of Therav?dan practice have spread to the West.
In Sri Lanka Theravadins were looking at Western culture to find means to revitalize their own tradition. Christian missionaries were threatening the indigenous culture. As a reaction to this, Theravadins started to propagate Therav?da Buddhism. They were aided by the Theosophical Society, who were dedicated to the search for wisdom within ancient sources, including Buddhism and the P?li Canon. Anagarika Dharmapala was one of the Therav?da leaders with whom the Theosophists sided. Dharmapala tried to reinstate vipassan?, using the Visuddhimagga and the Pali Canon as a foundation. Dharmapala reached out to the center classes, offering them religious practice and a religious identity, which were used to withstand the British imperialists. As a result of Dharmapapla's efforts lay practitioners started to practise meditation, which had been reserved specifically for the monks.
The translation and publication of the P?li Canon by the Pali Text Society made the Pali Canon available to a lay audience for the first time in history, not only in the West, but also in the East. Western lay interest in Therav?da Buddhism was promoted by the Theosophical Society, and endured until the beginning of the 20th century. During the 1970s interest rose again, leading to a surge of Westerners searching for enlightenment, and the republishing of the P?li Canon, first in print, and later on the internet.
With the coming to power in 1851 of King Mongkut, who had been a monk himself for twenty-seven years, the sangha, like the kingdom, became steadily more centralized and hierarchical, and its links to the state more institutionalized. Mongkut was a distinguished scholar of Pali Buddhist scripture. Moreover, at that time the immigration of numbers of monks from Burma was introducing the more rigorous discipline characteristic of the Mon sangha. Influenced by the Mon and guided by his own understanding of the Tipitaka, Mongkut began a reform movement that later became the basis for the Dhammayuttika Nikaya.
In the early 1900s, Thailand's Ajahn Sao Kantas?lo and his student, Mun Bhuridatta, led the Thai Forest Tradition revival movement. In the 20th century notable practitioners included Ajahn Thate, Ajahn Maha Bua and Ajahn Chah. It was later spread globally by Ajahn Mun's students including Ajahn Thate, Ajahn Maha Bua and Ajahn Chah and several Western disciples, among whom the most senior is Luang Por Ajahn Sumedho.
Burmese Therav?da Buddhism has had a profound influence on modern vipassan? practice, both for lay practitioners in Asia as in the West.
The "New Burmese method" was developed by U N?rada and popularized by his student Mahasi Sayadaw and Nyanaponika Thera. Another prominent teacher is Bhikkhu Bodhi, a student of Nyanaponika. The New Burmese Method strongly emphasizes vipassan? over samatha. It is regarded as a simplification of traditional Buddhist meditation techniques, suitable not only for monks but also for lay practitioners. The method has been popularized in the West by teachers as Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Gil Fronsdal and Sharon Salzberg.
The Ledi lineage begins with Ledi Sayadaw. S. N. Goenka is a well-known teacher in the Ledi-lineage. According to S. N. Goenka, vipassana techniques are essentially nonsectarian in character, and have universal application. Meditation centers teaching the vipassan? popularized by S. N. Goenka exist now in India, Asia, North and South America, Europe, Australia, Middle East and Africa.[citation needed]
The Sth?vir?ya, from which Therav?da is derived, differed from other early Buddhist schools on a variety of teachings that are maintained by the Therav?da school.[citation needed] The differences resulted from the systemization of the Buddhist teachings, which was preserved in the abhidharmas of the various schools.
The abhidhamma is "a restatement of the doctrine of the Buddha in strictly formalised language [...] assumed to constitute a consistent system of philosophy". Its aim is not the empirical verification of the Buddhist teachings, but "to set forth the correct construction of the Buddha's statements in the Sutra to restate his 'system' with perfect accuracy".
The Mah?s??ghika believed arhats could regress, while Theravadins believe that the arhat has an "incorruptible nature".
According to the Therav?da, "progress in understanding comes all at once, 'insight' (abhisamaya) does not come 'gradually' (successively - anapurva)", a belief known as subitism. This is reflected in the Therav?da account on the four stages of enlightenment, in which the attainment of the four paths appears suddenly and the defilements are rooted out at once.[e] The same stance is taken in the contemporary vipassana movement, especially the "New Burmese Method".
[D]harmas are what have (or 'hold', 'maintain', dhr is the nearest equivalent in the language to the English 'have') their own own-being (svabhava). It is added that they naturally (yathasvabhavatas) have this through conditions (pratyaya). The idea is that they are distinct, definable, principles in the constitution of the universe."
Therav?da promotes the concept of vibhajjav?da "teaching of analysis." This doctrine says that perception must come from the aspirant's experience, application of knowledge, and critical reasoning. However, the scriptures of the Theravadin tradition also emphasize heeding the advice of the wise, considering such advice and evaluation of one's own experiences to be the two tests by which practices should be judged.
Therav?da orthodoxy takes the seven stages of purification as its basic outline of the path to be followed.
The Therav?da Path starts with learning, to be followed by practice, culminating in the realization of Nirvana.[f]
Throughout the Pali Canon, two characteristics of all sa?kh?ra (conditioned phenomena) and one characteristic of all dhammas are mentioned. The Therav?da tradition has grouped them together. Insight into these three characteristics is the entry to the Buddhist path:
In Therav?da, the cause of human existence and suffering (dukkha) is identified as ta?h? (craving), which carries with it the kilesas (defilements). Those defilements that bind humans to the cycle of rebirth are classified into a set of ten fetters, while those defilements - sometimes referred to in English as "toxic intellectual states" - that impede samadhi (concentration) are presented in a fivefold set called the five hindrances.[web 5] The level of defilement can be coarse, medium, and subtle. It is a phenomenon that frequently arises, remains temporarily and then vanishes. Theravadins believe defilements are not only harmful to oneself, but also harmful to others. They are the driving force behind all inhumanities a human being can commit.
There are three stages of defilements. During the stage of passivity the defilements lie dormant at the base of the mental continuum as latent tendencies (anusaya), but through the impact of sensory stimulus, they will manifest (pariyutthana) themselves at the surface of consciousness in the form of unwholesome thoughts, emotions, and volitions. If they collect extra strength, the defilements will reach the dangerous stage of transgression (vitikkama), which will then involve physical or vocal actions.
Theravadins believe these defilements are habits born out of avijj? (ignorance) that afflict the minds of all unenlightened beings, who cling to them and their influence in their ignorance of the truth. But in reality, those mental defilements are nothing more than taints that have afflicted the mind, creating suffering and stress. Unenlightened beings cling to the body, under the assumption that it represents a Self, whereas in reality the body is an impermanent phenomenon formed from the mah?bh?ta. Often characterized by earth, water, fire and air, in the early Buddhist texts these are defined to be abstractions representing the sensorial qualities solidity, fluidity, temperature, and mobility, respectively.[g]
The mental defilements' frequent instigation and manipulation of the mind is believed to have prevented the mind from seeing the true nature of reality. Unskillful behavior in turn can strengthen the defilements, but following the Noble Eightfold Path can weaken or eradicate them. Avijj? is destroyed by insight.
The concept of cause and effect, or causality, is a key concept in Therav?da, and indeed, in Buddhism as a whole. This concept is expressed in several ways, including the Four Noble Truths, and most importantly, paticcasamupp?da (dependent co-arising).
Abhidharma in the Pali Canon differentiates between a root cause (hetu) and facilitating cause (pacca). By the combined interplay of both these, an effect is brought about. On top of this view, a logic is built and elaborated whose most supple form can be seen in paticcasamupp?da.
This concept is then used to impeach the nature of suffering and to elucidate the way out of it, as expressed in the Four Noble Truths. It is also employed in several suttas to refute several philosophies, or any belief system that takes a fixed mindset, or absolute beliefs about the nature of reality.
By taking away a cause, the result will also disappear. From this follows the Buddhist path to end suffering and existence in samsara.
Therav?da orthodoxy takes the seven stages of purification as the basic outline of the path to be followed. This basic outline is based on the threefold discipline of s?la (ethics or discipline), sam?dhi (meditative concentration) and paññ? (understanding or wisdom). The emphasis is on understanding the three marks of existence, which removes viññ?na (ignorance). Understanding destroys the ten fetters and leads to nibbana.
Theravadins believe that every individual is personally responsible for their own self-awakening and liberation, as they are the ones that were responsible for their own kamma (actions and consequences). Great emphasis is placed upon applying the knowledge through direct experience and personal realization, than believing about the known information about the nature of reality as said by the Buddha.
The Blessed One said, "Now what, monks, is the Noble Eightfold Path? Right view, correct resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.[web 7]
The Noble Eightfold Path can also be summarized as the Three Noble Disciplines.[web 8] These are s?la, paññ?, and sam?dhi.[web 9]
The Visuddhimagga, written in the fifth century CE by Buddhaghosa, has become the orthodox account of the Therav?da path to liberation. It gives a sequence of seven purifications, based on the sequence of s?la, sam?dhi and paññ?.
The "Purification by Knowledge and Vision" is the culmination of the practice, in four stages leading to liberation and Nirvana.
The emphasis in this system is on understanding the three marks of existence, dukkha, anatta and anicca. This emphasis is recognizable in the value that is given to vipassan? over samatha, especially in the contemporary Vipassana movement.
Therav?da Buddhist meditation practices fall into two broad categories: samatha and vipassan?.[web 10] This distinction is not made in the sutras, but in the Visuddhimagga.[web 11]
Meditation (Pali: Bhavana) means the positive reinforcement of one's mind. Meditation is the key tool implemented in attaining jh?na. Samatha means "to make skillful," and has other renderings, among which are "tranquilizing, calming," "visualizing," and "achieving." Vipassan? means "insight" or "abstract understanding." In this context, Samatha Meditation makes a person skillful in concentration of mind. Once the mind is sufficiently concentrated, vipassan? allows one to see through the veil of ignorance.
In order to be free from suffering and stress, Theravadins believe that the defilements need to be permanently uprooted. Initially the defilements are restrained through mindfulness to prevent them from taking over mental and bodily action. They are then uprooted through internal investigation, analysis, experience and understanding of their true nature by using jh?na. This process needs to be repeated for each and every defilement. The practice will then lead the meditator to realize Nirvana.
Samatha meditation in Therav?da is usually involved with the concepts of kamma??h?na, which literally stands for "place of work"; in this context, it is the "place" or object of concentration (P?li: ?rammana) where the mind is at work. In samatha meditation, the mind is set at work concentrated on one particular entity. There are forty (40) such classic objects (entities) used in samatha meditation, which are termed kamma??h?na. By acquiring a kamma??h?na and practising samatha meditation, one would be able to attain certain elevated states of awareness and skill of the mind called Jhana. Practising samatha has samadhi as its ultimate goal.
It should be noted that samatha is not a method that is unique to Buddhism. In the suttas it is said to be implemented in other contemporary religions in India at the time of Buddha. In fact, the first teachers of Siddhartha, before they attained the state of awakening (P?li: Bodhi), are said to have been quite skillful in samatha (although the term had not been coined yet). In the Pali Canon, the Buddha frequently instructs his disciples to practice samadhi in order to establish and develop jh?na. Jh?na is the instrument used by the Buddha himself to penetrate the true nature of phenomena (through investigation and direct experience) and to arrive Enlightenment.[web 12] Right Concentration (samma-samadhi) is one of the elements in the Noble Eightfold Path. Samadhi can be developed from mindfulness developed with kamma??h?na such as concentration on breathing (anapanasati), from visual objects (kasina), and repetition of phrases. The traditional list contains 40 objects of meditation (kamma??h?na) to be used for Samatha Meditation. Every object has a particular goal; for example, meditation on the parts of the body (kayanupassana or kayagathasathi) will result in a lessening of attachment to our own bodies and those of others, resulting in a discount of sensual desires. Mett? generates the feelings of goodwill and sukha (happiness) toward ourselves and other beings; mett? practice serves as an antidote to ill-will, wrath and fear.
The term "supramundane" [lokuttara] applies exclusively to that which transcends the world, that is the nine supramundane states: Nibbana, the four noble paths (magga) leading to Nibbana, and their corresponding fruits (phala) which experience the bliss of Nibbana.[web 11]
Mundane wisdom is the perception in the three marks of existence.[web 11] The development of this insight leads to four supramundane paths and fruits:
Each path is a momentary zenith experience directly apprehending Nibbana and permanently cutting off certain defilements.[web 11]
whereas the path performs the active function of cutting off defilements, fruition simply enjoys the bliss and peace that result when the path has completed its task. Also, where the path is limited to a single second of consciousness, the fruition that follows immediately on the path endures for two or three moments. And while each of the four paths occurs only once and can never be repeated, fruition remains accessible to the noble disciple.[web 11]
Nirvana (Sanskrit: ???????, Nirv??a; Pali: ???????, Nibb?na; Thai: ??????, Nípphaan) is the ultimate goal of Theravadins. It is a state where the fire of the passions has been 'blown out', and the person is liberated from the repeated cycle of birth, illness, aging and death. In the Sa?yojanapuggala Sutta of the A?gutarra Nikaya, the Buddha describes four kinds of persons and tells us that the last person - the Arahant - has attained Nibbana by removing all 10 fetters that bind beings to samsara:
"In the Arahant. In this person, monks, all of the fetters ['sa?yojan?ni'] are gotten rid of that pertain to this world, give rise to rebirth, and give rise to becoming."
According to the early scriptures, the Nirvana attained by Arahants is identical to that attained by the Buddha himself, as there is only one type of Nirvana.[web 16] Theravadins believe the Buddha was superior to Arahants because the Buddha discovered the path all by himself and taught it to others (i,e., metaphorically turning the wheel of Dhamma). Arahants, on the other hand, attained Nirvana due in part to the Buddha's teachings. Theravadins revere the Buddha as a supremely gifted person but also recognize the existence of other such Buddhas in the distant past and future. Maitreya (Pali: Metteyya), for example, is mentioned very briefly in the Pali Canon as a Buddha who will come in the distant future.
The Therav?da school upholds the Pali Canon or Tipitaka as the most authoritative collection of texts on the teachings of Gautama Buddha. The Sutta and Vinaya portion of the Tipitaka shows considerable overlap in content to the Agamas, the parallel collections used by non-Therav?da schools in India which are preserved in Chinese and partially in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Tibetan, and the various non-Therav?da Vinayas. On this basis, both these sets of texts are usually believed to be the oldest and most authoritative texts on Buddhism by scholars. It is also believed that much of the Pali Canon, which is still used by Therav?da communities, was transmitted to Sri Lanka during the reign of Ashoka. After being orally transmitted (as was the custom in those days for religious texts) for some centuries, were finally dedicated to writing in the last century BC, at what the Therav?da usually reckons as the fourth council, in Sri Lanka. Therav?da is one of the first Buddhist schools to commit the whole complete set of its Buddhist canon into writing.
Much of the material in the Canon is not specifically "Therav?dan," but is instead the collection of teachings that this school preserved from the early, non-sectarian body of teachings. According to Peter Harvey:
The Therav?dans, then, may have added texts to the Canon for some time, but they do not appear to have tampered with what they already had from an earlier period.
The Pali Tipitaka consists of three parts: the Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka. Of these, the Abhidhamma Pitaka is believed to be a later addition to the first two pitakas, which, in the opinion of many scholars, were the only two pitakas at the time of the First Buddhist Council. The Pali Abhidhamma was not recognized outside the Therav?da school.
The Tipitaka is composed of 45 volumes in the Thai edition, 40 in the Burmese and 58 in the Sinhalese, and a full set of the Tipitaka is usually kept in its own (medium-sized) cupboard.
In the 4th or 5th century Buddhaghosa Thera wrote the first Pali commentaries to much of the Tipitaka (which were based on much older manuscripts, mostly in old Sinhalese). After him many other monks wrote various commentaries, which have become part of the Therav?da heritage. These texts do not have the same authority as the Tipitaka does, though Buddhaghosas Visuddhimagga is a cornerstone of the commentarial tradition.
The commentaries, together with the Abhidhamma, define the specific Therav?da heritage. Related versions of the Sutta Pitaka and Vinaya Pitaka were common to all the early Buddhist schools, and therefore do not define only Therav?da, but also the other early Buddhist schools, and perhaps the teaching of Gautama Buddha himself.
Therav?da Buddhists consider much of what is found in the Chinese and Tibetan Mah?y?na scriptural collections to be apocryphal, meaning that they are not authentic words of the Buddha.
Traditionally, Therav?da Buddhism has observed a distinction between the practices suitable for a lay person and the practices undertaken by ordained monks (in ancient times, there was a separate body of practices for nuns). While the possibility of significant attainment by laymen is not entirely disregarded by the Therav?da, it generally occupies a position of less prominence than in the Mah?y?na and Vajray?na traditions, with monastic life being hailed as a superior method of achieving Nirvana. The view that Therav?da, unlike other Buddhist schools, is primarily a monastic tradition has, however, been disputed.[h]
This distinction between ordained monks and laypeople ? as well as the distinction between those practices advocated by the Pali Canon, and the folk religious elements embraced by many monks ? have motivated some scholars to consider Therav?da Buddhism to be composed of multiple separate traditions, overlapping though still distinct. Most prominently, the anthropologist Melford Spiro in his work Buddhism and Society separated Burmese Therav?da into three groups: Apotropaic Buddhism (concerned with providing protection from evil spirits), Kammatic Buddhism (concerned with making merit for a future birth), and Nibbanic Buddhism (concerned with attaining the liberation of Nirvana, as described in the Tipitaka). He stresses that all three are firmly rooted in the Pali Canon. These categories are not accepted by all scholars, and are usually considered non-exclusive by those who employ them.
The role of lay people has traditionally been primarily occupied with activities that are commonly termed merit making (falling under Spiro's category of kammatic Buddhism). Merit making activities include offering food and other basic necessities to monks, making donations to temples and monasteries, burning incense or lighting candles before images of the Buddha, and chanting protective or merit-making verses from the Pali Canon. Some lay practitioners have always chosen to take a more active role in religious affairs, while still maintaining their lay status. Dedicated lay men and women sometimes act as trustees or custodians for their temples, taking part in the financial planning and management of the temple. Others may volunteer significant time in tending to the mundane needs of local monks (by cooking, cleaning, maintaining temple facilities, etc.). Lay activities have traditionally not extended to study of the Pali scriptures, nor the practice of meditation, though in the 20th Century these areas have become more accessible to the lay community, especially in Thailand.
A number of senior monastics in the Thai Forest Tradition, including Ajahn Buddhadasa, Luang Ta Maha Bua, Ajahn Plien Panyapatipo, Ajahn Pasanno, and Ajahn Jayasaro, have begun teaching meditation retreats outside of the monastery for lay disciples.
Ajahn Chah, a disciple of Ajahn Mun, set up a monastic lineage called Cittaviveka with his disciple Ajahn Sumedho, at Chithurst in West Sussex, England. Ajahn Sumedho later founded the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in Hertfordshire, which has a retreat center specifically for lay retreats. Sumedho extended this to Harnham in Northumberland as Aruna Ratanagiri under the present guidance of Ajahn Munindo, another disciple of Ajahn Chah.
Nirvana, the highest goal of Therav?da Buddhism, is attained through study and the practice of morality, meditation and wisdom (sila, samadhi, panna). The goal of Nirvana (and its associated techniques) have traditionally been seen as the domain of the fully ordained monastic, whereas many of the same techniques can be used by laypeople to generate happiness in their lives, without focusing on Nirvana. Monastic roles in the Therav?da can be broadly described as being split between the role of the (often urban) scholar monk and the (often rural or forest) meditation monk. Both types of monks serve their communities as spiritual teachers and officiants by presiding over spiritual ceremonies and providing instruction in basic Buddhist morality and teachings.
Scholar monks undertake the path of studying and preserving the Pali literature of the Therav?da. They may devote little time to the practice of meditation, but may attain great respect and renown by becoming masters of a particular part of the Pali Canon or its commentaries. Masters of the Abhidhamma, called Abhidhammika, are especially respected in the scholastic tradition.
Meditation monks, often called forest monks because of their association with certain wilderness-dwelling traditions, are considered to be specialists in meditation. While some forest monks may undertake significant study of the Pali Canon, in general meditation monks are expected to learn primarily from their meditation experiences and personal teachers, and may not know more of the Tipitaka than is necessary to participate in liturgical life and to provide a foundation for fundamental Buddhist teachings. More so than the scholastic tradition, the meditation tradition is associated with the attainment of certain supernatural powers described in both Pali sources and folk tradition. These powers include the attainment of Nirvana, mind-reading, supernatural power over material objects and their own material bodies, seeing and conversing with gods and beings living in hell, and remembering their past lives. These powers are called abhiñña. Sometimes the remain of the cremated bone fragment of an accomplished forest monk is believed able to change itself into crystal-like relics (s?rira-dh?tu).
The minimum age for ordaining as a Buddhist monk is 20 years, reckoned from conception. However, boys under that age are allowed to ordain as novices (samanera), performing a ceremony such as Shinbyu in Burma. Novices shave their heads, wear the yellow robes, and observe ten basic precepts. Although no specific minimum age for novices is mentioned in the scriptures, traditionally boys as young as seven are accepted. This tradition follows the story of the Lord Buddha?s son, Rahula, who was allowed to become a novice at the age of seven. Monks follow 227 rules of discipline, while nuns follow 311 rules.
In most Therav?da countries, it is a common practice for young men to ordain as monks for a fixed period of time. In Thailand and Burma, young men typically ordain for the 3 month Rain Retreat (vassa), though shorter or longer periods of ordination are not rare. Traditionally, transitority ordination was even more bendy among Laotians. Once they had undergone their initial ordination as young men, Laotian men were permitted to temporarily ordain again at any time, though married men were expected to seek their wife's permission. Throughout Southeast Asia, there is little stigma attached to leaving the monastic life. Monks regularly exit the robes after acquiring an education, or when compelled by family obligations or ill health.
Ordaining as a monk, even for a short period, is seen as having many virtues. In many Southeast Asian cultures, it is seen as a means for a young man to "repay" his parents for their work and effort in raising him, because the merit from his ordination accrues to them as well. Thai men who have ordained as a monk may be seen as more fit husbands by Thai women, who refer to men who have served as monks with a colloquial term meaning "ripe" to indicate that they are more mature and ready for marriage. Particularly in rural areas, temporary ordination of boys and young men traditionally gave peasant boys an opportunity to gain an education in temple schools without committing to a permanent monastic life.
In Sri Lanka, temporary ordination is not practiced, and a monk leaving the order is frowned upon. The continuing influence of the caste system in Sri Lanka may play a role in the taboo against temporary ordination and leaving the monkhood. Though Sri Lankan monastic nikayas are often organized along caste lines, men who ordain as monks temporarily pass outside of the conventional caste system, and as such during their time as monks may act (or be treated) in a way that would not be in line with the expected duties and privileges of their caste.
Men and women born in Western countries, who become Buddhists as adults, wish to become monks or nuns. It is possible, and one can live as a monk or nun in the country they were born in, seek monks or nuns which has gathered in a different Western country or move to a monastery in countries like Sri Lanka or Thailand. It is seen as being easier to live a life as a monk or nun in countries where people generally live by the culture of Buddhism, since it is difficult to live by the rules of a monk or a nun in a Western country. For instance; a Therav?da monk or nun is not allowed to work, handle money, listen to music, cook and so on, which are extremely difficult rules to live by in cultures which do not embrace Buddhism. The recommendation is usually that to be able to live fully as a monk or nun you should move to a monastery in a country with a culture that embraces Therav?da Buddhism.
Some of the more well-known Therav?dan monks are: Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta, Ajahn Chah, Ledi Sayadaw, Ajahn Plien Panyapatipo, Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Khemadhammo, Ajahn Brahm, Bhikkhu Bodhi, Buddhadasa, Mahasi Sayadaw, Nyanaponika Thera, Preah Maha Ghosananda, Sayadaw U Pandita, Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Sucitto, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Walpola Rahula, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, Bhante Yogavacara Rahula and Phramongkolthepmuni.
The practices usually vary in different sub-schools and monasteries within Therav?da. But in the most orthodox forest monastery, the monk usually models his practice and lifestyle on that of the Buddha and his first generation of disciples by living close to nature in forest, mountains and caves. Forest monasteries still keep alive the ancient traditions through following the Buddhist monastic code of discipline in all its detail and developing meditation in secluded forests.
In a typical daily routine at the monastery during the 3 month vassa period, the monk will wake up before sunrise and will begin the day with group chanting and meditation. At dawn the monks will go out to surrounding villages bare-footed on alms-round and will have the only meal of the day before noon by eating from the bowl by hand. Most of the time is spent on Dhamma study and meditation. Sometimes the abbot or a senior monk will give a Dhamma talk to the visitors. Laity who stay at the monastery will have to abide by the traditional eight Buddhist precepts.
The life of the monk or nun in a community is much more complex than the life of the forest monk. In the Buddhist society of Sri Lanka, most monks spend hours every day in taking care of the needs of lay people such as preaching bana, accepting alms, officiating funerals, teaching dhamma to adults and children moreover to providing social services to the community.
After the end of the Vassa period, many of the monks will go out far away from the monastery to find a remote place (usually in the forest) where they can hang their umbrella tents and where it is suitable for the work of self-development. When they go wandering, they walk barefoot, and go wherever they feel inclined. Only those requisites which are necessary will be carried along. These generally consist of the bowl, the three robes, a bathing cloth, an umbrella tent, a mosquito net, a kettle of water, a water filter, razor, sandals, some tiny candles, and a candle lantern.
The monks do not fix their times for walking and sitting meditation, for as soon as they are free they just start doing it; nor do they determine for how long they will go on to meditate. Some of them sometimes walk from nightfall to dawn whereas at other times they may walk from between two to seven hours. Some may decide to fast for days or stay at dangerous places where ferocious animals live in order to aid their meditation.
Those monks who have been able to accomplish a high level of attainment will be able to guide the junior monks and lay Buddhists toward the four degrees of spiritual attainment.
In Pali the word for a male lay devotee is Upasaka. Upasika is its female equivalent. One of the duties of the lay followers, as taught by the Buddha, is to look after the needs of the monk/nuns. They are to see that the monk/nuns do not suffer from lack of the four requisites: food, clothing, shelter and medicine. As neither monks nor nuns are allowed to have an occupation, they depend entirely on the laity for their sustenance. In return for this charity, they are expected to lead exemplary lives.
In Burma and Thailand, the monastery was and is still regarded as a seat of learning. In fact today about half of the primary schools in Thailand are located in monasteries. Religious rituals and ceremonies held in a monastery are always accompanied by social activities. In times of crisis, it is to the monks that people bring their problems for counsel.
Traditionally, a ranking monk will deliver a sermon four times a month: when the moon waxes and wanes and the day before the new and full moons. The laity also have a chance to learn meditation from the monks during these times.
It is also possible for a lay disciple to become enlightened. As Bhikkhu Bodhi notes, "The Suttas and commentaries do record a few cases of lay disciples attaining the last goal of Nirvana. However, such disciples either attain Arahantship on the brink of death or enter the monastic order soon after their attainment. They do not continue to dwell at home as Arahant householders, for dwelling at home is incompatible with the state of one who has severed all craving."
Therav?da monks typically belong to a particular nikaya, variously referred to as monastic orders or fraternities. These different orders do not typically develop separate doctrines, but may vary in the manner in which they observe monastic rules. These monastic orders symbolize lineages of ordination, typically tracing their origin to a particular group of monks that established a new ordination tradition within a particular country or geographic area.
In Sri Lanka caste plays a major role in the division into nikayas. Some Therav?da Buddhist countries appoint or elect a sangharaja, or Supreme Patriarch of the Sangha, as the highest ranking or seniormost monk in a particular area, or from a particular nikaya. The demise of monarchies has resulted in the suspension of these posts in some countries, but patriarchs have continued to be appointed in Thailand. Burma and Cambodia ended the practice of appointing a sangharaja for some time, but the position was later restored, though in Cambodia it lapsed again.
Deekshabhoomi, 380,000 followers converted to Buddhism along with Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar On October 14, 1956. Deekshabhoomi is a major centre of the Buddhist movement in India.
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