Introduction
    The history of Buddhism spans over 2500 years. From it’s beginnings in Northern India, Buddhism has come to influence the religious, cultural and political makeup of many Asian countries, though it is no longer a force in it’s country of origin. At the present time, it is a dominant force in countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, Japan and some areas of China. Having spread throughout Asia, Buddhism is currently one of the fastest growing religions throughout the western world. In Australia, Buddhism is the religion of many of our Asian immigrants, particularly the refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

    This graph recently appeared on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald attached to an article regarding the end of the Islamic celebration of Ramadan. It displays A.B.S.  figures regarding changes in religious affiliation between 1991 and 1996, and demonstrates the growth in religions such as Buddhism over the last decade.

    One of the major features of Buddhism throughout its history has been its ability to readily adapt to different cultural and political settings. This characteristic has enabled Buddhism to coexist with folk, indigenous and other imported religions. For example, in China, Buddhism was practiced beside Confucianism and Taoism, while in Japan many adherents also follow Shinto rites and rituals. In Nepal and Java Buddhism exists in a synthetic Hindu-Buddhist religion. In this process of adaption the doctrinal features of Buddhism have often undergone major changes, yet in this process of change we can usually track a continuity and coherence with that which is Buddhist. It is often suggested that it is Buddhism’s reference to basic values such as selflessness that enables us to say that we are dealing with essentially the same religion in each case. Some would say that the ability of Buddhism to adapt without damaging or even weakening its essence is a hallmark of Buddhism that distinguishes it from other religions throughout the world. This contrast can be seen in how the Jews were commanded by their religion to neither marry outside of their group (i.e. Genesis 28:1), or make a treaty with other ethnic groups allowing co existence lest they become ‘a snare among you’ (i.e. Genesis 34:10 - 16).
 

    This century has seen this adaptive process pushed to its extremes. For the first time in its history Buddhism has found itself situated outside of agricultural societies, into Western cultures with a scientific and technological paradigm. This has brought into existence a whole new stream of Buddhism, which we will term ‘Western Buddhism.’ In all Australian capital cities there are temples, societies and meditation groups aligned to a range of different Buddhist traditions.
 

The Nature of Buddhism
    It is important to note from the outset that, as a religion, the structure of Buddhism is very different to many other religious systems throughout the world. As we look through Buddhism, we would expect to discover elements within Buddhism, such as institutions, codes of ethics and philosophy, hierarchies of authority and the like. Though they would be different in detail, we would expect to find similarities in their structure with those found in Western religions. While such characteristics exist, there importance is a fraction of that given to such characteristics in the Judaeo-Christian religions.

    Probably the primary difference between Buddhism and the Judaeo-Christian religions is that Buddhism has been a contemplative religion throughout its history. Buddhism places a strong emphasis on Yoga and meditative practices. The most highly revered and influential people in Buddhism tend to be meditators and recluses, rather than theologians, scholars and institutionalised clergy.

    The fact that Buddhism is so focused on contemplation, often at the expense of other characteristics found in traditionally religious ritualistic activity, has led to the charge that Buddhism is somewhat of an incomplete religion. That is, Buddhism does not seek to involve itself in every sphere of human ritualistic activity. From this we can say that such a thing as ‘the pure religion of Buddhism’ has never existed. There was never a time when a ‘pure Buddhism’ became syncretistically mixed with other religions. Buddhism has always co-existed with other religious beliefs and practices. That which is ‘not conducive to’ the aims of Buddhism are of no structural importance to Buddhism, and as such will vary according to the culture that the particular branch of Buddhism finds itself in.

    The centrality of contemplation can be seen from the beginnings of Buddhism in the Buddha’s own life. Tradition has it that Buddhism was founded by a prince by the name of Siddhartha Gautama, who was born around 563 BC near the border of Nepal.

    Though details of his life were not written for several centuries, and it is difficult to work out what is simply folk law and what is fact, there are some aspects to the story that we can be reasonably certain about. We to know that he was somewhat over protected by his father. His father built a palace for him and his cousin Yasodhara whom he married as a teen. Every effort was made to ensure that Siddhartha experienced only the beautiful and pleasant in life, and that he did not step outside of his comfortable elitist lifestyle of ease and luxury.

    However, at 29 he had a coming out experience. One day, on his way to the royal park, he saw an old man, a sick man, a dead man and a begging monk. This was of course, very disturbing for him. These were not the beautiful and sensual things that he had become used to experiencing. The reality of the pain and distress that arise from disease and death became very apparent, and this raised a myriad of questions in his mind. He decided that he needed to break the chains of home life which, by their luxurious nature, prevented him from facing what he felt were the real issues in life. This was a very difficult thing to do, for his home life was very luxurious for the young prince. In spite of this, he stole in during the night to look again at his sleeping wife and baby son, and then abandoned his home and family, wealth and prospects, in order to seek the answer to the riddle of life - how to bring a complete and lasting end to suffering.

    He shaved his head and assumed the tattered garb of an ascetic wanderer. Having no permanent abode and no possessions other than a begging bowl, he sought the wisdom and instruction of traditional Brahmanical-Hindu yogis who taught him the practice of yoga and introduced him to advanced meditative stages such as the state of nothingness, which he mastered. Although this heightened bliss was a great experience for him, it was only temporary and did not achieve a complete and lasting end to suffering.

    Given that Hindu meditation didn’t completely solve the problem, he with five other companions, added the most severe austerity measures. Living in the jungle, he survived on (tradition says) one grain of rice a day, while practising strenuous breathing exercises under his Hindu yogi masters. Having been reduced to a skeleton, he decided that this extreme self mortification and asceticism were futile, only leading to the futile enfeebling of mind and body.

    So far, his three lifestyles had been unsuccessful

 1. Self-indulgence of the princely life
 2. The heightened bliss of Hindu meditation, or
 3. The excessive self punishment of asceticism.

Theravada Buddhism.
    Theravada Buddhism (meaning ‘teaching of the elders’) is also known as Southern Buddhism. Of its 100 million adherents, a majority come from from southern Asia; countries such as Sri Lanka, Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Smaller numbers can be found in parts of Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, and within the emigrant population within the U.S.A. This teaching is derived from the body of doctrine approved at an important conference held soon after the founder’s death. This teaching is characterized by its conservative, legalistic teaching, involving a narrow austere path to spiritual enlightenment. Those Buddhist who do not approve of this school of thought call it Hinayana (meaning ‘little vehicle’) as it is considered too difficult for a majority of humanity to successfully follow.
 

The Four Noble Truths.
    The traditional Buddhist framework for interpreting the human condition is provided in the ‘four facts or realities’, otherwise known as the ‘four noble truths’, concerning the cause and removal of human pain and suffering. The importance of these four facts can be appreciated from the fact that these facts were only discovered by the Buddha after he achieved enlightenment under the bohdi tree.

    They are noble truths, because they are the only way in which one is bought to a state of true nobility. Unlike the Hinduism to which the Buddha was in part reacting against, where you are born into the caste system, nobility is not attained by birth. Rather it is attained by the inner purification that comes from this middle path. These four truths act like a doctor - recognise illness, diagnose the cause, removes the cause and prescribes treatment to bring about health. These four truths apply the same method to the general human condition. As we look at these truths, it may appear to us that they are reasonably simple and easy to understand. But this is a typically ‘western response’ to an eastern issue. For the Buddhist, the knowledge of the idea is completely inadequate. They are not descriptive, rather they are prescriptive. These truths are only of any value when they are meditated upon so to bring about that full existential comprehension that can in turn bring about an inward transformation. For this reason, one needs to attain, through meditation, a certain state of peace. When this peace is obtained, the Buddhist can see things in this prescriptive way in order to permanently to change the mind for the better.
 

The First Noble Truth: The existence of suffering.

“Now this, monks, is the noble truth of pain (dukkha) : birth is painful, old age is painful, sickness is painful, death is painful, sorrow, lamentation, dejection, and despair are painful. Contact with unpleasant things is painful, not getting what one wishes is painful. In short the five components of existence is painful.”

Exercise: Stop and think of an occasion when you were happy peaceful or content. According to Buddhism, even this experience is intrinsically unsatisfactory. On what grounds might the Buddha suggest that this experience is problematic or unsatisfactory?

    According to the Buddha, even experiences that we characterise as ‘pleasant’ are intrinsically problematic since worldly happiness is never lasting. Even the most uplifting experiences (including religious experience) or pleasurable sensations are temporary. When this pleasurable experience becomes displaced by an experience that we value less highly, this becomes a problem. So, even though we can have pleasant experiences, overall life can be characterised as problematic and unsatisfactory.

Buddhist scriptures list 8 types of unsatisfactory situations.

 1. Birth
 2. Old age
 3. Illness
 4. Death
 5. Separation from things we are attached to.
 6. Meeting with things we do not desire
 7. Not finding the happiness we seek
 8. Problems associated with having a body.

1. Obvious suffering
The first unsatisfactory situation is obvious or blatant suffering. This includes the problems experienced in physical illness and psychological stress. These problems involve a very raw and sometimes brutal experience of pain and suffering. Birth, illness and death are instances of what some texts call the ‘problem of pain’.

2. Problems of change
The second type of problems are those that derive from the changeable and impermanent characteristic of the world. The changing nature of human experience means that happiness never lasts, and so relative to this happiness we cannot avoid future discomfort.

3. The possibility of problems (problems of extension).
The third type of problems arise from the conditioned nature of human experience. The Buddha teaches that the human body is constructed so that, despite how it is cared for, at some point it causes us pain. Likewise, unpleasant thoughts, despite our attempts to shield ourselves from them, eventually enter our thoughts. The very fact that we think and feel make us prone to problems.

    From this we can see the way in which the Buddhist has a broader understanding of the original Pali word ‘dukkha’ which we simply translate as either pain or suffering. It refers to a complex state of suffering, which is both mental and physical, and involved in the very nature of life. We can say ‘life is dukkha’ or ‘life is ‘intrinsically problematic’
 

The Second Noble Truth: The cause of suffering.

“Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the cause of pain: the craving, which tends to rebirth, combined with pleasure and lust, finding pleasure here and there; namely, the craving for passion, the craving for existence, the craving for non-existence.”

    Normal thinking would say that ‘We are the author of our thoughts and we interpret the events in our lives’. Buddhism understands this as being false. The author of the narrative that constitutes us and our way of being within the world is no more than a recurrent distinction that occurs in the stream of thought that we say we are.

    The use of personal pronouns i.e. (I, me, mine) or the attribution of characteristics to the self (i.e. male, tall, handsome) are not a problem if these characterisations are grounded in standard uses and accepted applications. The problem arises when people believe that they and the characterisations that they and others make about themselves exist independently of the personal and social discourse that constitutes reality. Thereby, suffering arises when people believe they exist  independently of language, causing them to attempt either to preserve or destroy their sense of independent or self sufficient existence. An attempt to preserve their sense of an independent identity when either favourable characteristics are made of who they are, or there are pleasurable experiences. In these cases, desire develops for the continuation of the self. Conversely, people attempt to destroy a sense of self whenever they identify with personal suffering. The Buddha believed that people tend to treat suffering as a personal threat to their integrity and identity. In these situations, an attempt to remove suffering or block out pain calls into people’s minds the value and point of existing.

    Therefore, whenever there is a belief in an independent self, there is a drive for existence and non existence. The dilemma is between which is more preferable - to exist or not to exist (see the Freudian psychology concepts of the pleasure principle and the death instinct).
 

The Third  Noble Truth: The end of suffering.

 “Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the path that leads to the cessation of pain, the cessation without a remainder of craving, the abandonment, forsaking, release, non-attachment.”

    This lasting peace is known as nirvana. This is achieved when the cycle of rebirth (samsara) is broken through the renunciation of all desires. Those who achieve this become liberated saints (arhats). It was claimed that nirvana was achieved by a number of the Buddhas direct disciples and by a handful of Buddhists throughout the centuries. While it is impossible to testify if anyone has actually achieved such a state, it is important to note that the number of people that the different Buddhist traditions claim as achieving this state declines century by century. This decline is in accordance with the Buddhist teaching that  the spiritual capacity of his followers would decline over time, with a corresponding corruption and degeneration of  Buddhist philosophy, or dharma. It was predicted by the Buddha that Buddhism would eventually die out after 5000 years.
 

The Fourth Noble Truth: The end of pain  by the way of the eightfold path.

“Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the path that leads to the cessation of pain: this is the noble Eightfold Path.”

    This is achieved by following the Noble Eightfold Path pioneered by the Buddha. The Eightfold path is a kind of comprehensive course in disciplined self-improvement leading to the extinction of man’s insatiable desires and resulting in moral perfection. It is often referred to as the ‘Middle Way’, as it avoids the two extremes that the Buddha had tested and found wanting; that of self indulgence and self-mortification. It would however be a mistake to understand is as a compromise, it is more of a synergy between the two. The earliest and most basic description of the path is that it is threefold in nature;

Morality -----> Right livelihood
                         Right action
                         Right speech
Meditation -->  Right effort
                        Right mindfulness
                        Right concentration
Insight -------> Right resolve
                        Right view

    However, the Buddhist path is not so much a series of stages or steps to be followed in a chronological order, but more a particular grouping of states of mind that lead the the ultimate goal. When the ordinary (lokiya) aspects of the path reach a full and harmonious balance, the Buddhist is able to transcend ordinary understanding to a state where direct knowledge is acquired of the unconditioned truth.

The Eight paths are as follows;

1. Right Views. You are to accept the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold path, and reject incorrect philosophical positions and unworthy moral attitudes. Wrong views lead to a incorrect understanding on the nature of things, and moral attitudes that only prolong suffering.

2. Right Resolve. You are to  renounce the pleasures of the senses, harbouring  no ill towards  anyone, and hurting  no living creature. This demands more than a mental attitude of goodwill and peace, but an attitude that strives to achieve the highest goals.

3. Right speech. Speech is to be plain and simple. Do not lie; do not slander or accuse anyone. Do not indulge in idle talk. Your speech is to be wise, truthful and directed towards reconciliation.

4. Right action or behaviour. This covers all moral behaviour. You are not to destroy any living creature. You are not to steal, taking only what is given to you, nor are you to commit any unlawful sexual act. Practice acts of charity. A basic Buddhist principle is that morality and intellectual enlightenment are totally inseparable. It is said ‘While morality forms the basis of the higher life, wisdom completes it’

5. Right Livelihood. Life must be free from luxury. You are to earn a living in a way that will harm no living being. Each person must take up a work which will give scope to his abilities and make him useful and positive contribution to humanity.

6. Right Effort. You are to be committed to a fourfold effort in your personal life.

a.  avoid the uprising of evil qualities within in you
b. overcome any evil qualities that you may possess
c. strive to acquire good or meritorious qualities, such as detachment and concentration.
d. encourage those good qualities you do possess so that they are able to increase and be perfected.

7. Right mindfulness or awareness. You  are to be observant, strenuous, alert and contemplative. You are to be mindful or aware of four fundamentals.

a. the body is transitory and loathsome
b. the feelings of oneself and of other
c. the mind
d. phenomena aiming at the complete mastery of one’s mental processes.