Who are the Buddha’s Contemporaries ?
------The religious and philosophical Background that led to
the emergence of Buddhism
Introduction
Throughout human history in different civilizations, man has tried to find the meaning
of life and seek salvation beyond death. Various forms of religions in different
civilizations and cultures thus came into being to fulfill this need. One common thread
among most religions is the belief that there is a creator god who overseas everything
in this world (and beyond). Buddhism is probably unique in that in its cosmology,
there is no single creator god and that man has to seek salvation through his own
effort. Buddha declared that life was suffering (dukkha) , impermanent ( annica) and
that we do not have a permanent soul (annata). But then, how did the Buddha arrive
at his conclusions? There is no better way to look at the development of Buddhist
doctrines than taking a truly Buddhist view of Dependent Origination ------------in the
sense that the development of Buddhist doctrines must have been influenced by the
other existing schools of religious thoughts at the time of the Buddha and after his
parinibanna.
The Background
India circa 5th century BCE was already a very well developed civilization with the
development of agriculture (and possibly the appearance of farming tools made of
iron) and formation of cities and appearance of town dwellers. With a relatively stable
social environment, people(especially the well-to-do) began to ponder on the meaning
of life and how to gain salvation. The traditional Vedic religion was no longer
adequate nor satisfactory for this purpose. This led to a proliferation of ideas and
thoughts. As a generalization, these thoughts can be divided into one of permanence
or eternalism( sassatavada)on one hand and that of annihiliation (ucchedavada) on
the other. However, this classification is not too useful in the discussion and
understanding of the actual religious practices of the followers of these two schools of
thoughts at the time of the Buddha. For example, the term sassatavada would include
such diverse schools as Brahminism and Jainism while the propounder of a materialist
philosophy (which would belong to the ucchedavada group)called Ajagara was in fact
one of the great ascetics(1) of the Janism genre.
Likewise , the division by K N Jayatilleke (2) of ancient Indian thinking into three
categories---- the Traditionalists, Rationalists, and Experientialists---- is not
satisfactory because of so much overlapping and common threads among these
groups.
It is, therefore, proposed to discuss in this paper some of the major schools of
philosophy and religion at the time of the Buddha individually without trying to
categorize them. This should give the reader a better understanding of the actual
background against which Buddhism emerged.
Brahmanism at the time of the Buddha
The Buddha lived around the 5th Century BCE in Northern India in what is generally
known as the late Vedic period in Indian history. It must be remembered that the
Buddha was not born into a religious vacuum, but into a background of, more
specifically soteriological religions in India. In fact, his teachings were very much
influenced by the religious environment of the time which was very much historically
dominated by Brahmanism(3). In fact, a good many terminologies were borrowed by
Buddism( for that matter, most of the other religions at the time) from Brahmanism ,
although the meaning of these might have been very different from its original usage.
In early Vedic literature , rituals and sacrifices were the main staple. By the time the
texts of Upanisads (4) started to appear, Brahminism had developed its own system of
soteriology with the appearance of the notion of the cosmic soul. An escape from
samsara ( with its endless round of re-birth and suffering) was offered in the form of
divine knowledge --- when one had full realization of one’s true nature, one’s soul
(atman) would realize its identity with Brahman( the cosmic soul or the ground of the
Universe). The identification of one’s atman with Brahman was, at the same time, the
truth to be discovered and the end to be attained ( 5). It is this form of the atman
which was vigorously denied by the Buddha.
The description of the merging of the soul with the Cosmic Soul in the Upanisads
literature is strongly reminiscent of the yogic experience of the ascetic practitioners of
the Indus Valley. This is believed to be an evidence of the local ascetic tradition
influencing the Vedic tradition.
The Ascetics Tradition in India
When the Aryans (a group of people from central Asia) entered Northern India circa
1750 B CE, they became the dominate people in the Indus Valley and the Ganges
Plain. They brought with them their religions and their priests (the brahmins) among
other things. Initially, the local India ascetic culture (the dominant local tradition
before the arrival of the Aryans) was naturally suppressed but then by the time of the
Buddha, this culture had re-emerged with fresh vigor and vitality. As pointed out
above, the Brahmins probably had speculated on the experience gained in yogic
trance to help to formulate the idea of the Cosmic soul and its merging with the atman
( 6).
Buddhist literature indicate that the ascetic tradition was very much in vogue at the
time of the Buddha. After he had “left home”, Prince Siddhattha Gotama( who was
later to become the Buddha) first became the student of well-known ascetics like
Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta (7). He became proficient in the art of yogic
meditation, although he was ultimately not satisfied with his teachers’ systems and
not convinced that their methods could lead to complete liberation. He then spent the
next six years in prolonged painful austerities, but finally found the experience
wanting. The way Prince Siddhatta subjected his body to austerity indicates that he
was probably a follower of Jainism during those years(see below).
Buddhism as a Sramana( Pali : Samana) Religious Movement
As reaction or response to the Brahmanic religious tradition during the late Vedic
period, there appeared in India various teachers providing alternative pathways to
salvation other than that of the Vedic rituals. Obviously, these philosophical thinkers
had found the Brahmanic teachings wanting and unsatisfactory. They all shared one or
more of the following common threads:
1. Rejecting the authority of the Veda, the scriptures of Brahmanism as divine
revelation
2. Rejecting the belief in a Creator God
3. Rejecting the hierarchical social order based on the caste system.
The most well known ones in Buddhist literature are the so called six “ heretics”
( Sanskrit: titthiyas). A brief summary of their views are as follows (8):
1. Purana Kassapa--- he rejected the validity of making moral distinctions between
“good “ and “bad” actions and believed that there was no reward or punishment
for good or bad deeds.
2. Ajita Kesakambili--- he advocated materialism and advocated that man was
composed of the four basic primary elements which reverted to dust at the time of
death. There was no heaven, no hell and everyone(the wise and the stupid) would
all extinguish at the time of death
3. Makkhali Gosala--- his philosophy was one of strict “Determinism” in that the
world revolved around a pre-ordained plan with no possibilities of free will .
4. Pakudha Kaccayana---he believed in some kind of radical Pluralism. According to
this theory , the whole world could be reduced to seven fundamental principles
which were discrete in the sense that they did not interact.
5. Sanjaya Belatthiputta--- His philosophy can be described as Scepticism--- since
we cannot understand the unlimited world with our limited faculties, it would not
be possible to proclaim any definite views on any given issue. As such, his
followers were referred to (rather sarcastically) as “eel wrigglers”.
6. Nigantha Nataputta---- He was considered to be the founder of Jainism. However,
in the text of Jainism, he was known us Mahavira and regarded by the Jainas as
the 24th Thirthankara, or Prophet of Jainism. Legend records that Rishabhadeva
was the first Thirthankara and founder of Jainism. Rishabhadeva must have lived
at least 30-40 generations before Mahavira, probably around 1500 BC or even
earlier.
Apart from these six major “heretics”, the Brahmajala Sutta in Dighanikaya in the
Palic Canon also listed some 62 philosophical and religious views during Buddha’s
time. In addition, Buddhist literature (as well as the religious text of other religions
like Jainism) recorded the communication and debates between the Buddha( and
sometimes his disciples) with the various contemporary wandering teachers at the
time ( 9 ).
It can be clearly seen from the above that during the time of Buddha, there was a rich
milieu of philosophical thoughts and views. Among these, the one with the most
influence on the development of Buddhist doctrines would be Jainism,
Janism and Buddhism
Janism was a firmly entrenched religious tradition in India before the Buddha arrived
on the scene. It is the only ascetic tradition that has survived to this date in India,
whereas Buddhism has practically disappeared from its land of birth until resurgence
in more recent times. Janism emphasizes extreme forms of self-mortification in order
to free the “self” from its bondage to existence, caused by karmic particles covering
the inherently pure “self”. As pointed out above, the Buddha (before his
Enlightenment) was probably a follower of Jainism during his years of searching for
the truth, although he finally rejected it as he found their methods unable to allow him
to achieve nibbana.
There are certainly fundamental difference between Janism and Buddhism. Apart
from the difference in views towards ascetic practices (10), the most important one is
the Buddha’s denial of a permanent soul whereas Janism does believe in the ultimate
liberation of a human soul (jiva). However, at the same time, there are also many
striking similarities. Both religions deny the authority of a creator god and stress the
importance of man gaining salvation through his own effort. They used similar
symbols like stupa and terms like arhan, nirvana, sangha,etc. The five vows of the
Jain ethical code are (11) :
1. Non-violence( ahimsa)
2. Truth (satya)
3. Non-stealing( asteya)
4. Chastity (brahmacharya)
5. Non-possession or non-possessiveness (aparigraha)
This code is rather similar to the five precepts in Buddhism (of not killing, stealing,
engagement in unlawful sex, telling lies, and drinking intoxicants.). It can even
reasonably be argued that Buddhism is an offshoot (or modification) of Jainism.
Buddhist scriptures attest to the fact that some of the first Buddhists were in fact
Jainas who “converted”, but were encourage by the Buddha to maintain their Jain
identity and continue to practice such things as giving alms to Jain monks and nuns.
Conclusion
It can be seen that the Buddha was born into an India with a rich and diverse religious
milieu. It has been pointed out that the development of his teachings depended a lot
on debates with other religious teachers of his day (12). And in turn, other religions of
his day were also influenced by Buddhism, so much so that in later development of
Hinduism, the Buddha became a re-incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, while
Jainism, also, developed a less severely ascetic sect probably as a result of its contact
with Buddhism. No Buddhist would, however, find this surprising. After all,
Dependent Origination (paticcasamuppada) is in the nature of all things --- or as the
more modern English idiom goes : one thing leads to another.
Notes and References
1. Buddhist Philosophy—a Historical Analysis by David J Kalupahana ( University of
Hawaii Press,1976) , page 12.
2. Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge by K N Jayatilleke ( London: George Allen &
Unwin, 1963), page 170
3, The term “Brahmanism” is often used as synonymous with Hinduism , although
many Hindus find this term inappropriate in that it does not reflect the complete
nature and ideology of Hinduism . However, the early Buddhist Pali scriptures
contain a lot of debate with and references to various Brahmins ( the high priests at
the time). “Brahmanism” seems to be a better term to describe the prevailing
dominate religion at the time of the Buddha and this term is used here without any
derogatory meaning.
4. Hinduism’s sacred literature is known as the Vedic literature. It is internally
stratified into three strata: the four Sambita texts, the Brahmans; and the Upanisads.
Upanisads are also known as the Vedanta, “ the conclusions of the Veda”.
Historians generally believe that the texts of Upanisads began to appear in the late
Vedic period, i.e. circa 1000 to circa 500 BCE.
5. Theravada Buddhism---- a social history from ancient Benares to Modern Colombo
by Richard Gombrich , published by Routledge(19880, page 43.
6. Buddhist Philosophy—a Historical Analysis by David J Kalupahana ( University of
Hawaii Press,1976) , page 10-11.
7. A Manual of Buddhism by Venerable Narada Maha Thera ( Buddhist Missionary
Society Malaysia, 1995), page 19-21
8. Adapted from Prof. Y Karunadadasa’ lecture notes “ The Emergence of Buddhism:
Historical Background” , Course on Theraveda Buddhism, Sept,06, HK University
Centre of Buddhist Studies.
9. A Short Account of the Wandering Teachers at the time of the Buddha—Bimala
Charan Law, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol 14, 1918, pp 399-406.
10. The monks in early Buddhism did practise a certain degree of ascetism which can
be quite severe in a layman’s view ---- like begging for alms(food), not eating after
noon etc.---- although nothing like the extreme examples of the Jainas.
11.www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism
12. How Buddhism began—The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings by
Richard F Gombrich ( Munshiram Manoharlal Pulbishers Pvt.Ltd, India, 2nd edition
2002) , page 42.