Buddhism

Buddhism (Fo Jiao) was founded in India by Siddhartha Gautama (563 -483 BC), a prince brought up in luxury who became disillusioned by the world around him. At the age of 30 he sought 'enlightenment' by fol- lowing various yogic disciplines. After several failed attempts he devoted the final phase of his search to intensive contemplation. One evening he slipped into deep meditation and emerged having achieved enlighten- ment. His title 'Buddha' means 'the awakened' or 'the enlightened one'. The cornerstone of Buddhist philosophy is the view that all life is suf- fering. Everyone is subject to the traumas of birth, sickness, decrepitude and death, and to separation from what they love.

The cause of suffering is desire - specifically the desires of the body and the desire for personal fulfilment. Happiness can only be achieved if these desires are overcome, and this requires following the 'eightfold path'. By following this path the Buddhist aims to attain nirvana: a state of complete freedom from greed, anger, ignorance and the various other fetters of existence.

When Buddhism entered China from India, its exotic nature, with chanting, strange coloured robes, incense and foreign images was an attraction for many Chinese disillusioned with the uptight formalism of Confucianism. Buddhism offered answers to the afterlife that neither Taoism nor Confucianism could address, with its elaborate explanations of karma and how to find relief from suffering.

Slowly, the religion drew more followers, gathering firm support in northern China and gradually moving south. However, Buddhism had its share of critics, and many Chinese were afraid that the foreign reli- gion was a threat to the Chinese identity, which was firmly grounded in Confucianism. The growth of Buddhism was slowed by persecutions and outright abolishment by various emperors.

The Buddhist writings that have come down to us date from about 150 years after the Buddha's death. By the time these texts came out, divisions had already appeared within Buddhism. Some writers tried to emphasise the Buddha's break with Hinduism, while others tried to minimise it. At some stage Buddhism split into two major schools: Theravada and Mahayana.

The Theravada or 'doctrine of the elders' school (also called Hinayana or little vehicle' by non-Theravadins) holds that the path to nirvana is an individual pursuit. It centres on monks and nuns who make the search for nirvana a full-time profession. This school maintains that people are alone in the world and must tread the path to nirvana on their own; bud- dhas can only show the way.

Theravada is the main school of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

The Mahayana, or big vehicle', school holds that since all existence is one, the fate of the individual is linked to the fate of others. The Buddha did not just point the way and float off into his own nirvana, but continues to offer spiritual help to others seeking nirvana.

Mahayana is the main school of Buddhism in Vietnam, Japan, Tibet, Korea, Mongolia and China, Mahayana Buddhism is replete with innumerable heavens, hells and descriptions of nirvana. Prayers are addressed to the Buddha and com- bined with elaborate ritual. There are deities and bodhisattvas - a rank of supernatural beings in their last incarnation before nirvana. Temples are filled with images such as the future buddha, Maitreya (often portrayed as fat and happy over his coming promotion) and Amitabha (a saviour who rewards the faithful with admission to a Christian-like paradise).

The ritual, tradition and superstition that Buddha rejected came tumbling back in with a vengeance.

In Tibet and areas of Gansii, Sichuan and Yunnan, a unique form of the Mahayana school is practised: Tantric or Lamaist Buddhism (Lama Jiao). Tantric Buddhism, often called Vajrayana or 'thunderbolt vehicle' by its followers, has been practised since the early 7th century AD and is heavily influenced by Tibet's pre-Buddhist Bon religion, which relied on priests or shamans to placate spirits, gods and demons.

Generally speaking, it is much more mystical than other forms of Buddhism, relying heavily on mudras (ritual postures), mantras (sacred speech), yantras (sacred art) and secret initiation rites.

Priests called lamas are believed to be reincarnations of highly evolved beings; the Dalai Lama is the supreme patriarch of Tibetan Buddhism.