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The Buddha Always Involved Himself Closely in the Social and Political World of His Time

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The Buddha Always Involved Himself Closely in the Social and Political World of His Time Buddhism/History A book to shake its readers into awareness of the social-revolutionary potential of Buddhism Far from being a recluse concerned only with an inner mystical experience, the Buddha always involved himself closely in the social and political world of his time. If he preached detachment from many of the things by which ordinary men are tied, he did so as a means of enriching life rather than escaping from it. Trevor Ling describes the India into which the Buddha was T born, recounts what is known of his life and the development of his teaching, HE and then follows the course of Buddhism through succeeding centuries in India and Sri Lanka. His admiration for the Buddha and his teaching and for the civilization which embodied it makes this a warm and stimulating book. B For those who wish to pursue the teaching of the Buddha beyond the stage of UDDHA wishes and promises, into a stage of mature implementation, Trevor Ling, with his learning, his unabashedly positive bias, and his seasoned historical lessons and lenses, spoke with a clarifying voice. His vivid history lets us feel we are walking around inside ancient India and Sri Lanka. Forty years after he wrote The Buddha, this book emits tempered hope. —PAUL R. FLEISCHMAN , MD, author, Cultivating Inner Peace Decades of study and practice have fi lled my shelves with scores of Dhamma books. Some glow with a special signifi cance, having singlehandedly opened me to a whole new dimension of appreciation for Gotama’s life and thought. Ling Trevor Trevor Ling’s The Buddha is emphatically one of these. —PHILIP NOVAK , co-author, Buddhism; author, The World’s Religions TREVOR OSWALD LING (1920-1995) was a cleric, theologian, and scholar who pioneered the study of Comparative Religion in British universities, a focus that emerged during the years he lived in India and Southeast Asia. His published works include Buddhism and the Mythology of Evil; A History of Religion East and West; and A Dictionary of Buddhism. Pariyatti Press 867 Larmon Road Onalaska, Washington 98570 www.pariyatti.org $17.95 0.875 22.225mm This eBook is offered freely. If you wish, you may donate and help us continue offering our services. May you be happy! To make a donation, please visit: www.pariyatti.org PARIYATTI 867 Larmon Road Onalaska, Washington 98570 USA 360.978.4998 www.pariyatti.org Pariyatti is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the world by: v Disseminating the words of the Buddha v Providing sustenance for the seeker’s journey v Illuminating the meditator’s path The Buddha The Social-Revolutionary Potential of Buddhism नमो त"स भगवतो अरहतो स"मास"बु'(स Trevor Ling THE BUDDHA The Social-Revolutionary Potential of Buddhism Pariyatti Press Onalaska, WA, USA The transliteration of the Devanāgari (Indian) script on the title- page is as follows: namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammasambuddhassa These words, which are in Pāli, the language of Theravada Buddhism, may be translated as follows: Honour to Him, the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the fully Enlightened. Gotama, the Buddha, is frequently referred to in the Buddhist texts as ‘Bhagavā’, or the Blessed One. This sentence is customarily said three times before any Buddhist devotions, as a mark of respect, and in praise of the Buddha. Pariyatti Press an imprint of Pariyatti Publishing 867 Larmon Road, Onalaska, WA, USA www.pariyatti.org © 1973 Trevor Ling, © 2013 Estate of Trevor Ling Introduction © 2013 Paul R. Fleischman First edition, 1973 published by Charles Scribner’s Sons (New York) under the title: The Buddha: Buddhist Civilization in India and Ceylon. Second edition, 2013 ISBN: 978-1-938754-32-6 (Print) ISBN: 978-1-938754-29-6 (ePub) ISBN: 978-1-938754-30-2 (Mobi) ISBN: 978-1-938754-31-9 (PDF eBook) Library of Congress Control Number: 2013931531 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. We have made every effort to contact the original copyright holders of certain works, but in some instances this has not been possible. Please contact Pariyatti if you feel your copyright has been infringed. Pariyatti enriches the world by disseminating the words of the Buddha, providing sustenance for the seeker's journey and illuminating the meditator's path. From the first edition (1973) Dedicated with her permission to SHRIMATI INDIRA GANDHI Prime Minister of India in the 25th Anniversary Year of the Republic of India Contents Editor’s Note .......................................................................... 11! Introduction ............................................................................ 13! Map ........................................................................................ 25! Part 1 — Perspectives .............................................................. 27! 1! Buddhism and Religion .................................................... 29! Some reasons for Western interest in Buddhism ................ 29! Is Buddhism a religion? ...................................................... 30! Buddhism and the Sacred ................................................... 32! The historical perspective ................................................... 34! 2! Religions and Civilizations .............................................. 38! Modern religious pluralism ................................................ 38! ‘Great religions’ as residual civilizations ........................... 40! Hindu civilization ............................................................... 41! Islamic civilization ............................................................. 43! Judeo-Christian civilization ................................................ 44! Modern societies and theistic belief ................................... 46! Alternatives to theism ......................................................... 48! Part 2 — North India in the Sixth Century BC .................... 51! 3! The Physical, Economic, and Social Environment .......... 53! The Indian ‘Middle Country’ ............................................. 53! The heart of the Middle Country ........................................ 54! A land of abundant food ..................................................... 56! The Aryanization of the Middle Country ........................... 57! Rice cultivation and population increase ............................ 58! Development of urban life .................................................. 60! The six cities of the Middle Country .................................. 62! 4! Monarchy, the City and Individualism ............................ 68! Republics in decline ........................................................... 68! Theories of kingship ........................................................... 71! The disadvantages and advantages of monarchy ............... 74! The king as the supreme individual ................................... 76! The emergence of individualism ....................................... 78! Individualism as a consequence of urbanism and monarchy .................................................... 81! 5! The Religious and Ideological Environment .................. 84! A time of religious change ................................................ 84! The sacrificial system of the Brahmans ............................. 86! Popular cults and beliefs .................................................... 90! The mendicant philosophers .............................................. 97! The Ājīvakas ...................................................................... 99! The Jains .......................................................................... 102! The Materialists ............................................................... 102! The Sceptics ..................................................................... 104! Part 3 — Buddhist Civilization in Principle ....................... 105! 6! Profile of the Buddha .................................................... 107! The Buddha’s historicity ................................................. 107! Gotama’s social and cultural milieu ................................ 109! The enlightenment ........................................................... 114! The nature of the Buddha’s public activity ..................... 117! The Buddha in Rajagriha and Shravasti .......................... 120! The Buddha’s last journey ............................................... 122! The village of Kushinara ................................................. 125! The urbanity of the Buddha ............................................. 127! 7! The New Wisdom .......................................................... 129! The enlightenment as humanistic discovery .................... 129! Discovery based on analysis ............................................ 130! The Three Marks of Existence ........................................ 132! The Four Noble Truths .................................................... 134! Individuality and the human malaise .............................. 135! Morality, Meditation and Wisdom .................................. 136! Early Buddhist doctrine in the context of the times ........ 137! Early Buddhism as a psycho-social philosophy .............. 139! 8! The New Society ............................................................. 145! Self, solitude and sharing ................................................. 145! The beginnings of the Buddhist
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