TeachingRE Issue 4.pdf - the Second Level Support Service

Tony Kenny teaches REat Coláiste Chiaráinsecondary school, CroomCo. Limerick. He is agraduate of MIC/UL. Heis currently working onPhD research in the areaof world religions.I welcome Tony’spersonal insights intoBuddhism and thankhim for this rich,informative article.BUDDHISM: THEWAY OF THE BUDDHABy Tony KennyThroughout my life people have asked me to summarise the essence of Buddhism; well the heart of the mattercomes down to its soteriology. 2 In Buddhism you are not saved through faith in the Buddha, you must become aBuddha.This is made perfectly clear in the Buddhist scripture known as the Dhammapada:Atta hi attano natho ko hi natho paro si (verse,160)One is the refuge for oneself, who else could be the refuge for others.Tumhehi kiccam atappam akkhataro Tathagata. (Verse 276)You should make efforts for yourself.The Tathagata (Lord) points out the way only.Self-dependence and self-effort are the two keynotes of Buddhist ethics. In contrast Christian soteriology says thatwe are saved through grace and not be self effort. 3 Remember Jesus’ question to Peter in Mk8:29? 4 It is the responseto this question that is the essence of Christian soteriology. Indeed, Luther proclaimed sola fide or salvation throughfaith alone. However, Buddhists believe that we are not saved through faith in the Buddha rather we must walk thepath he walked and have the realisations that he had; he is simply a teacher who points out the Way. He shows usthe medicine that we must take, namely the Four Noble Truth and the Eightfold Path, 5 but we must open themedicine bottle and actually take the medicine that the great physician Lord Buddha has prescribed.Thomas Mertonthe great Christian mystic appreciated the experiential nature of Buddhism and regarded the Buddha as the greatexistentialist, proclaiming that:His doctrine was not a doctrine but a way of being in the world. His religion was not a set of beliefs andconvictions or of rites and sacrifices but an opening to love. His philosophy was not a world view but a significantsilence, in which the fracture implied by conceptual knowledge was allowed to heal and reality appeared againin its mysterious “suchness”. 6To employ a Zen Buddhist analogy, to Buddhists the different religions are simply different fingers pointing at the samemoon. We must “experience” the moon (the Truth) and not get preoccupied with the fingers (the Paths)! 7 If youare going to a Chilli Peppers gig in Dublin, it doesn’t matter how you get there – you can get the train, take amotorbike, fly in a helicopter or thumb all the way – once you get there! This utilitarian approach is the essence ofBuddhism and the Sutta Pitaka 8 constantly refers to the Dharma or Buddhist teachings as a raft.We are trapped onan island with unfavourable conditions and we spy a beautiful tropical paradise in the distance. We build a raft totravel to this paradise but we don’t carry the raft around on our heads when we reach the other side! All religionsare rafts to help us sail to the far shore and truth is truth no matter what the source whether it be Pope BenedictXVI, the XIV Dalai Lama or a tramp on the side of the street.Truth is never sectarian.SYLLABUS LINKLEAVING CERTIFICATESECTION CWorld ReligionsJUNIOR CERTIFICATESECTION CFoundations of ReligionMajor World ReligionsSo who is this Buddha? Well there have been many Buddhas throughout the ages but when people commonly referto the Buddha they are usually referring to an Indian Kshatriya 9 by the name of Siddhartha Gautama. Prince Siddarthawas born around 566 BCE into one of the small tribal republics that had sprung up on northern India and he leda princely life of material splendour. The Legend of the Passing Sights tells us that during his drives to the local villagehe encountered a sick man, an old man and a corpse.After reflection upon these profound realities, namely sickness,old age and death, his cocooned princely existence was shattered from that moment forth and he had a deeprealisation of the existential realities of life that face all beings trapped in Samsara. 10 Birth and death are two sidesof the same coin, to be born is one day to die! It was this deep spiritual realisation of the suffering that ultimatelycharacterises all human life which led to the formulation of the First Noble Truth of Buddhism – Dukkha: the Truthof the suffering or unsatisfactory-ness of existence. This realisation of the suffering that is inherent in all humanexistence made the young prince question his priorities in life. From that moment forth, he renounced his princelylife, left his family and friends, his wealth and privilege and wandered off into the world to discover magga: the paththat would lead to the end of this suffering and continued rebirth in Samsara. Upon ultimate realisation SiddharthaTEACHING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ISSUE FOUR SEPTEMBER 200913