In 2015, a Czech religious society called Theravada Buddhism was founded, which was successfully registered by the Ministry of Culture as the 40th registered religious society on 6/26/2018 Czech republic. Along with the proposal for registration, the Ministry of Culture was also presented with the basic characteristics of Theravada Buddhism, which we now translate for you in a modified form:
Emergence and development of Theravada Buddhism
Dhamma-vinaya
The founder of Theravada Siddhattha Gotama, known as the Buddha (translated as “awakened one”), in his time did not use the term Theravada Buddhism to denote the discovered teaching (dhamma), but called it by the collective name dhamma- vinaja (doctrine and discipline). By Dhamma (often translated as doctrine or truth) the Buddha referred to what he himself discovered through his intuitive inner knowledge and subsequently communicated to others as a kind of instruction on how to realize full liberation (nibbana) from constant, inherently painful , the cycle of rebirth (samsara). Vinaya (translated most often as discipline) then the Buddha named a set of rules for those who wanted to follow his example and go to the so-called homelessness (i.e. leave a life devoted to worldly affairs) and devote themselves fully to the realization of nibbana in this life. Theravada Buddhism is a school of Buddhism that emphasizes the interconnectedness of dhamma and vinaya. Although in theory it is possible to differentiate the two parts of the Buddha’s teaching, in practice it is necessary to apply both components of the teaching at the same time, if the goal of such practice is to realize complete freedom from suffering. Theravada Buddhism can therefore also be described as a religion of liberation, as its main mission is to help realize liberation from suffering for as many beings as possible.
Community of Monks and Laymen
Buddha established a community (parisá) of his followers, which consisted of two groups, a community of lay followers who continued to live a worldly way of life (upasáka), < em>upásíka), and communities of monks and nuns (bhikkhu, bhikhuní) who decided to renounce the worldly way of life, go into homelessness to they could fully devote themselves to realizing the awakening. Both communities supported each other from the beginning. The lay community supported the monks and nuns materially, enabling them to cultivate ethical qualities of mind, and the monastic community, on the other hand, provided the laity with spiritual support. The Buddha deliberately made the monastic community materially dependent on the generosity of the laity. Lay followers thus became guardians of the purity of monastic discipline, as they were expected not to support monks who consistently and grossly violated the rules of the order as laid down by the Buddha. For the lay followers, the Buddha did not formulate any rules, the violation of which would be accompanied by a sanction. As part of their practice, lay people commonly observe 5 or 8 ethical rules (panchasila or atthasila). For the monastic community, the Buddha gradually created a set of 227 rules (for monks) and 333 (for nuns) as legal norms of their kind, the violation of which is associated with specific sanctions, with the most severe punishment being expulsion from the monastic community (but not from the lay community). . The rules of monastic discipline were established by the Buddha always in response to specific transgressions of monks or nuns. The set of these rules is intended to ensure stability and the longest possible survival of the monastic community
Name Theravada Buddhism
The concept of Theravada (teaching of the elders) is derived from the first gathering of elder monks (thera) shortly after the Buddha’s death or departure to parinibbana. At this assembly, or rather the first council, the basis of the future Tipitaka, the canonical text of Theravada, was compiled. In later controversies that arose over the interpretation of how to observe the rules of the monastic order, followers of a teaching known as Theravada took a more conservative approach that emphasized maintaining the rules of the order as laid down by the Buddha. During the reign of the Indian emperor Ashoka (304-232 BC), Theravada spread to Sri Lanka, and then during the 1st to 2nd millennium AD. to Southeast Asia (present-day Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos). Theravada completely disappeared from the Indian subcontinent in the following centuries. At the turn of the century, there were 18 Buddhist schools in India, among which Theravada is no longer named (it is often mistakenly identified with Sthaviravada). With the emergence of Mahayana (great vehicle), a new Buddhist school, these so-called old schools began to be pejoratively referred to as Hinayana (small vehicle). This designation is inaccurate not only because Theravada was no longer on the Indian continent at the time of Mahayana (and thus did not come into direct confrontation with it), but also because elements emphasized in Mahayana Buddhism (the practice of perfections, developing compassion and all-embracing love). The very term Buddhism began to be used only in connection with the spread of the Buddha’s teachings to the West. This name gradually spread even in Buddhist countries and is commonly used today both to denote the Buddha’s teachings and individual Buddhist schools (Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism). Therefore, the name Theravada Buddhism was chosen to name the religious society, which, in accordance with the above, best describes the characteristics of this religious society.
Bhikkhu and sangha
The term monk is a loose translation of the Pali word bhikkhu,which could be loosely translated as “a fully ordained disciple of the Buddha”. The closest translation equivalent might be “beggar monk”. It literally means “one who begs” or “one who asks for alms”. However, this is not begging in the usual sense of the word. A Theravada monk stands quietly waiting to be gifted with food. He lives on what supporters spontaneously donate to him. He is not a priest because he is no mediator between God and man. He voluntarily leads a life of poverty and celibacy. At any time he can lay down his monk’s robes and cease to be a monk. The term sangha literally means a community or assembly of the Buddha’s disciples. However, it can take on different meanings in different contexts. Within the Triple Jewel or refuge (Tiratana, Tisarana), i.e. Buddhas, Dhammas and Sanghas, this term refers to the community of noble disciples of the Buddha (arija-puggala) and is then characterized by the phrase arija-sangha. Another specific meaning is bhikkhu-sangha, ie. a community of fully ordained monks, which does not include Buddhist novices (samanéra), laity long-term residents of a monastery (anagarika or kappija-káraka) and neither no lay followers (upasaka). Nowadays, the term sangha is also used in a broader sense, where it refers to all living persons following the Buddha’s teachings, whether they are monks (bhikkha and samanera) or lay adherents. The unifying element of all these individuals is their willingness to take refuge with the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha.
Vihára (monastery)
The Pali term vihára literally means “dwelling”, but today, with some exceptions, it is used to denote a Theravada monastery. At the beginning of the formation of the monastic community, monks and nuns wandered the country and settled only during the three-month rainy season (vassa). They often lived in caves or simple huts or simple forest dwellings were first built for their accommodation. Later, permanent monastic settlements began to emerge, which often grew into large complexes with a complex administrative apparatus in the following centuries. Thus, monasteries in the Western sense of the word began to be referred to as viháras. This is how the term is still used today in most Theravada countries, even though sometimes a vihara is only a temple, i.e. a sanctuary where monks do not reside permanently.
Nicaea (monastic order)
Like any other legal norms, the texts of the vinaya, i.e. the rules of the monastic order, can be interpreted differently. Different interpretations of monastic rules gradually led to the emergence of several monastic orders (Nikay) in Theravada countries. These orders were mostly created in response to the decline of order discipline, which led to the division of a new “reformed” order. Currently, there is a smaller Dhammajuttika-nikaya and a more numerous Maha-nikaya in Thailand. In Sri Lanka, they are Siam-nikaya, Amarapura-nikaya and Ramaññanikaya. In Burma, there are the Sudhamma-nikaya, the Shvedjin-nikaya, and the smallest Dvara-nikaya. The monastic lineage was transferred several times between individual countries, when for some reason (wars, famine, decline of discipline, etc.) the pure Theravada tradition disappeared in the country and the representative of the state invited monks from elsewhere to restore this tradition. This is how, for example, the Siam Nikaya was created, which was founded in Sri Lanka by monks from Thailand.
The Pali canon and its arrangement at the councils
Pali Canon (Tipitaka)
Pali is the canonical language of Theravada Buddhism. It is an Indo-European language that was probably spoken in northern India during the Buddha’s lifetime. The Pali language was originally only a spoken language, so it did not have its own alphabet. In the 1st century BCE, the Brahmi script was used for the first written record of the canon. With the spread of Theravada to other countries, another alphabet began to be used to record the Pali language, currently the entire Tipitaka is also transcribed into Latin. The Tipitaka is a record of the discourses of the Buddha and his closest disciples, not a record of indisputable divine revelation to be accepted on faith alone. Everyone is expected to verify the veracity of the information contained in it for themselves using their own experiences and knowledge.
Membership of the Tipitaka
Pali the canon consists of three parts:
Vinaya-pitaka (Basket of monastic order rules),
Sutta-pitaka (Discussion Basket),
Abhidhamma-pitaka (Basket of Higher Learning).
Vinaya-pitaka containing rules for the life of monks and nuns consists of five books:
Párádzika-pá< /em>li (Major offense),
Pácittija-páli (Minor offense),
Mahávagga-páli (Larger section),
Chullavagga-páli (Smaller section),
Parivára-páli (Additions).
Sutta-pitaka or also Suttanta-pitakaya consists mainly of discourses delivered by the Buddha or one of his closest disciples. It contains the core of the whole learning. Sutta refers to the Buddha’s saying, whether in prose or in verse. The entire Sutta-pitaka is divided into five collections called nikája (v in this context it is not a designation of a monastic order):
Dígha-nikáá em>I (Collection long debates),
Madjjhima-nikáá em>me (Collection medium-length debates),
Samjutta-nikáj em>a (Collection of joint debates),
Anguttara-nikája (Collection gradually ranked debates),
Khuddaka-nikája (Collection of small debates).
Abhidhammapitaka contains seven systematic and descriptive texts analyzing and explaining Theravada doctrine. Is made of the following seven parts:
Dhammasanganí(Classification of Phenomena),
Vibhanga (Analytical Interpretation),
Dhátukathá(Discourse on the Elements),< /p>
Puggala-pannatti (Description of the personality of individuals),
Kathávatthu (Questions in dispute),
Jamaica (Book of Couples),
Patthána (Book of Causal Relations).
Comments and sub-comments
In addition to the Tipitaka, the Theravada tradition includes other Pali texts as well as other sources of doctrine, but they are not considered canonical literature. To these sources belong an extensive literature including commentaries (atthakathá) and sub-commentaries (tiká), which explain and interpret the meaning of early canonical texts in minute detail. Much of these commentaries and sub-commentaries were created in Sri Lanka in the centuries following the spread of Theravada to that island in the 3rd century BCE.
Buddhist Councils
During the Buddha’s lifetime, all his discourses and also the rules of order were transmitted only orally. Three months after his death, the thera Mahakassapa, one of his distinguished disciples, convened the first council (sangayana or sangiti) in a cave near Rajagaha, India, which was attended by 500 theras who were arahants (fully awakened disciples of the Buddha). For several months, they devoted themselves to repeating and classifying the Buddha’s teachings. The second council was held in Vesál one hundred years after the first council. The reason for his summons was a decline in the observance of the rules of the monastic order (for example, accepting money). These practices were condemned as a departure from the original teachings. The third council was held in Pátaliputta (today’s Indian Patna) under the patronage of the Indian emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BC. Here, the entire Pali canon was systematically divided. This accepted version of the Tipitaka was carried by Ashoka’s son Mahinda to Sri Lanka, where Theravada soon became the state religion. The next council, the fourth in a row, was held in Aluviháren, Sri Lanka, around 29 BC. Its importance lay in the fact that here for the first time the entire teaching was recorded in writing (engraved on palm leaves). The reason for this was the threat of passing on Tipitaquism in a form because the country was depopulated by war and famine. The fifth and sixth councils took place in Burma, the former was held in 1871 and the entire Tipitakya marble slab (729 pieces) was engraved here. The content of the Sixth Council held in Rangoon in years 1954 to 1956 was the comparison of different versions of the Tipitaka. This resulted in a comparison of texts from Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, India and a critical edition in Latin from the Páli Text Society.
Brief summary of the basics of Theravada doctrine
Four Noble Truths
Foundation the Buddha summarized his teachings shortly after his awakening in the first debate called Dhammachakkappavattana–sutta. This debate, Which The Buddha spun the wheel of learning (Dhamma-chakka), contains kernel rediscovered doctrines summarized in four noble ones truths (arija-saccha). The first truth teaches, briefly said that absolutely all forms of any existence are unsatisfactory and painful (dukkha). The second truth teaches that all suffering arises as a result of desire (tanhá). Third truth teaches that the eradication of desire leads to the cessation of rebirth and the cessation (niródha) of suffering, i.e. to Nibbana. The fourth truth states the way in which the cessation of suffering can be achieved, i.e. the Noble Eightfold Path (arija-athangika-magga). For the cessation of suffering to happen personally experienced truth, it is necessary to cultivate and mutually balance the following eight components:
1. right opinion (sammá-ditthi),
2. right intention (sammá-sankappa),
3. correctly speaking (sammá-váča),
4. correctly action (sammá-kammanta),
5. correctly livelihood va),
6. correctly effort (sammá-vájá</em >ma),
7. correct vigilance (sammá-sati),
8. correct concentration (sammá-samadhi).
In other words, due to one’s own ignorance (avijja) of the four noble truths, beings remain trapped in the constant cycle of rebirth (samsara), i.e. the constant cycle of birth, aging and death , which is governed by the law of cause and effect (kamma). Kamma is a universal law according to which every intentional action done in the present, by body, speech or mind, brings beneficial, neutral or unfavorable consequences in the future according to its character.
Achieving liberation from samsara, i.e. realizing awakening (bodhi) requires full insight or understanding of the four noble truths, described in the words of the Buddha as the first noble truth must be understood, the second noble truth abandoned, the third realized and the fourth developed, the realization of the third noble truth being the realization of awakening, i.e. leaving blindness (moha), greed (dosa), anger (lóbha) >), i.e. the end of constant, painful rebirth. The realization of this absolute freedom is at the heart of the Buddha’s teachings.
Strength, Samadhi and the Virgin
The way leading to the liberation of the Buddha described also as “medium path” (majjhimá-patipadá) which it avoids the two extremes to which it is blind on the one hand the gratification of one’s own desires and on the other hand mindless asceticism reveling in self-mortification. A noble eight-person trail you can also express three concepts: power (correctly speaking, right action and right living) samadhi (correctly effort, correct vigilance and correct concentration) and virgin (right opinion and right intention).
Sīlais translated as ethics, virtue, morality or discipline. The starting point of Theravada ethics are the impulses of the mind and free intentions (čétaná) manifested in speaking or physical action. Ethics is the basis of all Buddhist practice and as such represents the first of the three areas of training. Buddhist ethics is not something negative as it might seem based on their negative formulations. It does not only lie in not committing unwholesome deeds, but in consciously and intentionally refraining from such unethical behavior, which corresponds to the respective free intentions.
Samadhimeans concentration, literally “a state of firm attachment (of the mind)” and refers to the resting of the mind on one object (the object of concentration). As part of the Eightfold Path, it is associated with all kammically beneficial (kusala) states of consciousness. Improper concentration (miccha-samadhi) is the concentration associated with all kammically unwholesome (akusala) states of consciousness. In terms of intensity, the following three degrees of concentration are distinguished. Preparatory concentration (parikamma-samadhi), present at the beginning of mind cultivation (bhavaná). An approach (or adjacent) concentration (upachara-samadhi), approaching in intensity the first absorption (jhana), without reaching it. The last is full concentration (appaná-samadhi).
Virgo means knowledge or wisdom (insight, understanding), but it is not intellectual wisdom, i.e. wisdom acquired by reading texts or purely rational consideration, as it might seem in a Western context. It is a specific knowledge or wisdom as part of the liberating eightfold noble path (magga), primarily of the nature of insight (vipassaná). It is a direct experience of intuitive, inner knowledge that leads to the attainment of the four degrees of sanctity (sotapanna, sakadagami, anagami and arahant), to the realization of nibbana, and rests in direct insight into impermanence (aniccha ), suffering (dukkha) and meaninglessness (anatta) of all phenomena.
Nibbana
Concept He signified nibbana originally in the ancient Indian context of extinction fire. But Buddha used this Pali word in the sense of cessation of lust (tanhá), the cause of all misery (dukkha). Just to he compared the extinguishing of the flame Buddha extinction lust in its three aspects, viz they are avidity (lóbha), anger (dosa) and blindness (may). WITH their fades away sorrow (dukkha) and ignorance (avijja). By going out lust will run out of being awakening (bodhi) and the individual thus becomes a buddha (awakened one). Buddha rather, he described nibbana using negative defined as unborn, unformed, unformed and uncreated. According to the words of the Buddha if was not this unborn, unformed, unformed, uncreated, there would be no escape from the born, created, formed, created. Because this is unborn, unformed, unformed, uncreated, therefore escape from born, formed, formed, created. Sometimes Nibbana is mistakenly identified with the concept of God, who but it is in western understood by the cultural circle like omnipotent and omniscient creator. Theravada Buddhism does not recognize the existence of such a God, therefore he can also be labeled as religion without God. According to the Buddha’s teaching, nibbana can be achieved just by making your own effort. No being or whatever another entity cannot impart knowledge to others. I alone The Buddha always acted as a mere teacher, not as a savior or savior a prophet who would reveal to others or convey the teachings of salvation through faith in God.
Emergence and development of Theravada Buddhism
Dhamma-vinaya
The founder of Theravada Siddhattha Gotama, known as the Buddha (translated as “awakened one”), in his time did not use the term Theravada Buddhism to denote the discovered teaching (dhamma), but called it by the collective name dhamma- vinaja (doctrine and discipline). By Dhamma (often translated as doctrine or truth) the Buddha referred to what he himself discovered through his intuitive inner knowledge and subsequently communicated to others as a kind of instruction on how to realize full liberation (nibbana) from constant, inherently painful , the cycle of rebirth (samsara). Vinaya (translated most often as discipline) then the Buddha named a set of rules for those who wanted to follow his example and go to the so-called homelessness (i.e. leave a life devoted to worldly affairs) and devote themselves fully to the realization of nibbana in this life. Theravada Buddhism is a school of Buddhism that emphasizes the interconnectedness of dhamma and vinaya. Although in theory it is possible to differentiate the two parts of the Buddha’s teaching, in practice it is necessary to apply both components of the teaching at the same time, if the goal of such practice is to realize complete freedom from suffering. Theravada Buddhism can therefore also be described as a religion of liberation, as its main mission is to help realize liberation from suffering for as many beings as possible.
Community of Monks and Laymen
Buddha established a community (parisá) of his followers, which consisted of two groups, a community of lay followers who continued to live a worldly way of life (upasáka), < em>upásíka), and communities of monks and nuns (bhikkhu, bhikhuní) who decided to renounce the worldly way of life, go into homelessness to they could fully devote themselves to realizing the awakening. Both communities supported each other from the beginning. The lay community supported the monks and nuns materially, enabling them to cultivate ethical qualities of mind, and the monastic community, on the other hand, provided the laity with spiritual support. The Buddha deliberately made the monastic community materially dependent on the generosity of the laity. Lay followers thus became guardians of the purity of monastic discipline, as they were expected not to support monks who consistently and grossly violated the rules of the order as laid down by the Buddha. For the lay followers, the Buddha did not formulate any rules, the violation of which would be accompanied by a sanction. As part of their practice, lay people commonly observe 5 or 8 ethical rules (panchasila or atthasila). For the monastic community, the Buddha gradually created a set of 227 rules (for monks) and 333 (for nuns) as legal norms of their kind, the violation of which is associated with specific sanctions, with the most severe punishment being expulsion from the monastic community (but not from the lay community). . The rules of monastic discipline were established by the Buddha always in response to specific transgressions of monks or nuns. The set of these rules is intended to ensure stability and the longest possible survival of the monastic community
Name Theravada Buddhism
The concept of Theravada (teaching of the elders) is derived from the first gathering of elder monks (thera) shortly after the Buddha’s death or departure to parinibbana. At this assembly, or rather the first council, the basis of the future Tipitaka, the canonical text of Theravada, was compiled. In later controversies that arose over the interpretation of how to observe the rules of the monastic order, followers of a teaching known as Theravada took a more conservative approach that emphasized maintaining the rules of the order as laid down by the Buddha. During the reign of the Indian emperor Ashoka (304-232 BC), Theravada spread to Sri Lanka, and then during the 1st to 2nd millennium AD. to Southeast Asia (present-day Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos). Theravada completely disappeared from the Indian subcontinent in the following centuries. At the turn of the century, there were 18 Buddhist schools in India, among which Theravada is no longer named (it is often mistakenly identified with Sthaviravada). With the emergence of Mahayana (great vehicle), a new Buddhist school, these so-called old schools began to be pejoratively referred to as Hinayana (small vehicle). This designation is inaccurate not only because Theravada was no longer on the Indian continent at the time of Mahayana (and thus did not come into direct confrontation with it), but also because elements emphasized in Mahayana Buddhism (the practice of perfections, developing compassion and all-embracing love). The very term Buddhism began to be used only in connection with the spread of the Buddha’s teachings to the West. This name gradually spread even in Buddhist countries and is commonly used today both to denote the Buddha’s teachings and individual Buddhist schools (Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism). Therefore, the name Theravada Buddhism was chosen to name the religious society, which, in accordance with the above, best describes the characteristics of this religious society.
Bhikkhu and sangha
The term monk is a loose translation of the Pali word bhikkhu,which could be loosely translated as “a fully ordained disciple of the Buddha”. The closest translation equivalent might be “beggar monk”. It literally means “one who begs” or “one who asks for alms”. However, this is not begging in the usual sense of the word. A Theravada monk stands quietly waiting to be gifted with food. He lives on what supporters spontaneously donate to him. He is not a priest because he is no mediator between God and man. He voluntarily leads a life of poverty and celibacy. At any time he can lay down his monk’s robes and cease to be a monk. The term sangha literally means a community or assembly of the Buddha’s disciples. However, it can take on different meanings in different contexts. Within the Triple Jewel or refuge (Tiratana, Tisarana), i.e. Buddhas, Dhammas and Sanghas, this term refers to the community of noble disciples of the Buddha (arija-puggala) and is then characterized by the phrase arija-sangha. Another specific meaning is bhikkhu-sangha, ie. a community of fully ordained monks, which does not include Buddhist novices (samanéra), laity long-term residents of a monastery (anagarika or kappija-káraka) and neither no lay followers (upasaka). Nowadays, the term sangha is also used in a broader sense, where it refers to all living persons following the Buddha’s teachings, whether they are monks (bhikkha and samanera) or lay adherents. The unifying element of all these individuals is their willingness to take refuge with the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha.
Vihára (monastery)
The Pali term vihára literally means “dwelling”, but today, with some exceptions, it is used to denote a Theravada monastery. At the beginning of the formation of the monastic community, monks and nuns wandered the country and settled only during the three-month rainy season (vassa). They often lived in caves or simple huts or simple forest dwellings were first built for their accommodation. Later, permanent monastic settlements began to emerge, which often grew into large complexes with a complex administrative apparatus in the following centuries. Thus, monasteries in the Western sense of the word began to be referred to as viháras. This is how the term is still used today in most Theravada countries, even though sometimes a vihara is only a temple, i.e. a sanctuary where monks do not reside permanently.
Nicaea (monastic order)
Like any other legal norms, the texts of the vinaya, i.e. the rules of the monastic order, can be interpreted differently. Different interpretations of monastic rules gradually led to the emergence of several monastic orders (Nikay) in Theravada countries. These orders were mostly created in response to the decline of order discipline, which led to the division of a new “reformed” order. Currently, there is a smaller Dhammajuttika-nikaya and a more numerous Maha-nikaya in Thailand. In Sri Lanka, they are Siam-nikaya, Amarapura-nikaya and Ramaññanikaya. In Burma, there are the Sudhamma-nikaya, the Shvedjin-nikaya, and the smallest Dvara-nikaya. The monastic lineage was transferred several times between individual countries, when for some reason (wars, famine, decline of discipline, etc.) the pure Theravada tradition disappeared in the country and the representative of the state invited monks from elsewhere to restore this tradition. This is how, for example, the Siam Nikaya was created, which was founded in Sri Lanka by monks from Thailand.
The Pali canon and its arrangement at the councils
Pali Canon (Tipitaka)
Pali is the canonical language of Theravada Buddhism. It is an Indo-European language that was probably spoken in northern India during the Buddha’s lifetime. The Pali language was originally only a spoken language, so it did not have its own alphabet. In the 1st century BCE, the Brahmi script was used for the first written record of the canon. With the spread of Theravada to other countries, another alphabet began to be used to record the Pali language, currently the entire Tipitaka is also transcribed into Latin. The Tipitaka is a record of the discourses of the Buddha and his closest disciples, not a record of indisputable divine revelation to be accepted on faith alone. Everyone is expected to verify the veracity of the information contained in it for themselves using their own experiences and knowledge.
Membership of the Tipitaka
Pali the canon consists of three parts:
Vinaya-pitaka (Basket of monastic order rules),
Sutta-pitaka (Discussion Basket),
Abhidhamma-pitaka (Basket of Higher Learning).
Vinaya-pitaka containing rules for the life of monks and nuns consists of five books:
Párádzika-pá< /em>li (Major offense),
Pácittija-páli (Minor offense),
Mahávagga-páli (Larger section),
Chullavagga-páli (Smaller section),
Parivára-páli (Additions).
Sutta-pitaka or also Suttanta-pitakaya consists mainly of discourses delivered by the Buddha or one of his closest disciples. It contains the core of the whole learning. Sutta refers to the Buddha’s saying, whether in prose or in verse. The entire Sutta-pitaka is divided into five collections called nikája (v in this context it is not a designation of a monastic order):
Dígha-nikáá em>I (Collection long debates),
Madjjhima-nikáá em>me (Collection medium-length debates),
Samjutta-nikáj em>a (Collection of joint debates),
Anguttara-nikája (Collection gradually ranked debates),
Khuddaka-nikája (Collection of small debates).
Abhidhammapitaka contains seven systematic and descriptive texts analyzing and explaining Theravada doctrine. Is made of the following seven parts:
Dhammasanganí(Classification of Phenomena),
Vibhanga (Analytical Interpretation),
Dhátukathá(Discourse on the Elements),< /p>
Puggala-pannatti (Description of the personality of individuals),
Kathávatthu (Questions in dispute),
Jamaica (Book of Couples),
Patthána (Book of Causal Relations).
Comments and sub-comments
In addition to the Tipitaka, the Theravada tradition includes other Pali texts as well as other sources of doctrine, but they are not considered canonical literature. To these sources belong an extensive literature including commentaries (atthakathá) and sub-commentaries (tiká), which explain and interpret the meaning of early canonical texts in minute detail. Much of these commentaries and sub-commentaries were created in Sri Lanka in the centuries following the spread of Theravada to that island in the 3rd century BCE.
Buddhist Councils
During the Buddha’s lifetime, all his discourses and also the rules of order were transmitted only orally. Three months after his death, the thera Mahakassapa, one of his distinguished disciples, convened the first council (sangayana or sangiti) in a cave near Rajagaha, India, which was attended by 500 theras who were arahants (fully awakened disciples of the Buddha). For several months, they devoted themselves to repeating and classifying the Buddha’s teachings. The second council was held in Vesál one hundred years after the first council. The reason for his summons was a decline in the observance of the rules of the monastic order (for example, accepting money). These practices were condemned as a departure from the original teachings. The third council was held in Pátaliputta (today’s Indian Patna) under the patronage of the Indian emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BC. Here, the entire Pali canon was systematically divided. This accepted version of the Tipitaka was carried by Ashoka’s son Mahinda to Sri Lanka, where Theravada soon became the state religion. The next council, the fourth in a row, was held in Aluviháren, Sri Lanka, around 29 BC. Its importance lay in the fact that here for the first time the entire teaching was recorded in writing (engraved on palm leaves). The reason for this was the threat of passing on Tipitaquism in a form because the country was depopulated by war and famine. The fifth and sixth councils took place in Burma, the former was held in 1871 and the entire Tipitakya marble slab (729 pieces) was engraved here. The content of the Sixth Council held in Rangoon in years 1954 to 1956 was the comparison of different versions of the Tipitaka. This resulted in a comparison of texts from Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, India and a critical edition in Latin from the Páli Text Society.
Brief summary of the basics of Theravada doctrine
Four Noble Truths
Foundation the Buddha summarized his teachings shortly after his awakening in the first debate called Dhammachakkappavattana–sutta. This debate, Which The Buddha spun the wheel of learning (Dhamma-chakka), contains kernel rediscovered doctrines summarized in four noble ones truths (arija-saccha). The first truth teaches, briefly said that absolutely all forms of any existence are unsatisfactory and painful (dukkha). The second truth teaches that all suffering arises as a result of desire (tanhá). Third truth teaches that the eradication of desire leads to the cessation of rebirth and the cessation (niródha) of suffering, i.e. to Nibbana. The fourth truth states the way in which the cessation of suffering can be achieved, i.e. the Noble Eightfold Path (arija-athangika-magga). For the cessation of suffering to happen personally experienced truth, it is necessary to cultivate and mutually balance the following eight components:
1. right opinion (sammá-ditthi),
2. right intention (sammá-sankappa),
3. correctly speaking (sammá-váča),
4. correctly action (sammá-kammanta),
5. correctly livelihood va),
6. correctly effort (sammá-vájá</em >ma),
7. correct vigilance (sammá-sati),
8. correct concentration (sammá-samadhi).
In other words, due to one’s own ignorance (avijja) of the four noble truths, beings remain trapped in the constant cycle of rebirth (samsara), i.e. the constant cycle of birth, aging and death , which is governed by the law of cause and effect (kamma). Kamma is a universal law according to which every intentional action done in the present, by body, speech or mind, brings beneficial, neutral or unfavorable consequences in the future according to its character.
Achieving liberation from samsara, i.e. realizing awakening (bodhi) requires full insight or understanding of the four noble truths, described in the words of the Buddha as the first noble truth must be understood, the second noble truth abandoned, the third realized and the fourth developed, the realization of the third noble truth being the realization of awakening, i.e. leaving blindness (moha), greed (dosa), anger (lóbha) >), i.e. the end of constant, painful rebirth. The realization of this absolute freedom is at the heart of the Buddha’s teachings.
Strength, Samadhi and the Virgin
The way leading to the liberation of the Buddha described also as “medium path” (majjhimá-patipadá) which it avoids the two extremes to which it is blind on the one hand the gratification of one’s own desires and on the other hand mindless asceticism reveling in self-mortification. A noble eight-person trail you can also express three concepts: power (correctly speaking, right action and right living) samadhi (correctly effort, correct vigilance and correct concentration) and virgin (right opinion and right intention).
Sīlais translated as ethics, virtue, morality or discipline. The starting point of Theravada ethics are the impulses of the mind and free intentions (čétaná) manifested in speaking or physical action. Ethics is the basis of all Buddhist practice and as such represents the first of the three areas of training. Buddhist ethics is not something negative as it might seem based on their negative formulations. It does not only lie in not committing unwholesome deeds, but in consciously and intentionally refraining from such unethical behavior, which corresponds to the respective free intentions.
Samadhimeans concentration, literally “a state of firm attachment (of the mind)” and refers to the resting of the mind on one object (the object of concentration). As part of the Eightfold Path, it is associated with all kammically beneficial (kusala) states of consciousness. Improper concentration (miccha-samadhi) is the concentration associated with all kammically unwholesome (akusala) states of consciousness. In terms of intensity, the following three degrees of concentration are distinguished. Preparatory concentration (parikamma-samadhi), present at the beginning of mind cultivation (bhavaná). An approach (or adjacent) concentration (upachara-samadhi), approaching in intensity the first absorption (jhana), without reaching it. The last is full concentration (appaná-samadhi).
Virgo means knowledge or wisdom (insight, understanding), but it is not intellectual wisdom, i.e. wisdom acquired by reading texts or purely rational consideration, as it might seem in a Western context. It is a specific knowledge or wisdom as part of the liberating eightfold noble path (magga), primarily of the nature of insight (vipassaná). It is a direct experience of intuitive, inner knowledge that leads to the attainment of the four degrees of sanctity (sotapanna, sakadagami, anagami and arahant), to the realization of nibbana, and rests in direct insight into impermanence (aniccha ), suffering (dukkha) and meaninglessness (anatta) of all phenomena.
Nibbana
Concept He signified nibbana originally in the ancient Indian context of extinction fire. But Buddha used this Pali word in the sense of cessation of lust (tanhá), the cause of all misery (dukkha). Just to he compared the extinguishing of the flame Buddha extinction lust in its three aspects, viz they are avidity (lóbha), anger (dosa) and blindness (may). WITH their fades away sorrow (dukkha) and ignorance (avijja). By going out lust will run out of being awakening (bodhi) and the individual thus becomes a buddha (awakened one). Buddha rather, he described nibbana using negative defined as unborn, unformed, unformed and uncreated. According to the words of the Buddha if was not this unborn, unformed, unformed, uncreated, there would be no escape from the born, created, formed, created. Because this is unborn, unformed, unformed, uncreated, therefore escape from born, formed, formed, created. Sometimes Nibbana is mistakenly identified with the concept of God, who but it is in western understood by the cultural circle like omnipotent and omniscient creator. Theravada Buddhism does not recognize the existence of such a God, therefore he can also be labeled as religion without God. According to the Buddha’s teaching, nibbana can be achieved just by making your own effort. No being or whatever another entity cannot impart knowledge to others. I alone The Buddha always acted as a mere teacher, not as a savior or savior a prophet who would reveal to others or convey the teachings of salvation through faith in God.