The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Eastern and Western Thought

Chapter 8 The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Buddhist Thought

Chapter 8 The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Buddhist Thought Ancient India, where the Buddha (ca. 563–483 BCE) lived, was a land of large rivers. Sometimes these could be crossed by boats, but at other times, when the flow slackened, they had to be forded on foot. Crossing over such rivers was a major challenge for travelers and became a common metaphor for salvation in Buddhism. One of the titles given to the Buddha was that of “one who has crossed over the difficult current of suffering and rebirth, and shown a way for others to follow.” It is a metaphor for escape from the miseries of karma-samsara (the “current” of birth, death and rebirth) to the far shore of freedom or release (nirvana). The term nirvana literally means the blowing out of a candle flame—in this case the “flame” of ego-selfish karmic desires that cause one to be trapped in the suffering of karma-samsara. To achieve this freedom or perfection Buddhists speak of taking refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (his teaching) and the Sangha (the monastic community he established). The taking of these “refuges” is what defines a person as Buddhist. When they speak of taking refuge in the Buddha, Buddhists are thinking of Gautama Buddha (Buddha is a title meaning “the Enlightened One” or “the Awakened One”). Gautama is the family name of a man who was born in the foothills of the Himalayas as the son of a father who ruled a small kingdom in Hindu society. Tradition has it that Gautama was married at a young age and had a son, but left home at age twenty-nine to find a new answer as to how to find release from suffering and rebirth (he did not find the Hindu answer satisfactory). After much rigorous trial and error, he reached enlightenment at age 157 An earlier version of this chapter appeared in Harold Coward, Sin and Salvation in the World Religions (Oxford: Oneworld, 2003). 158 The Perfectibility of Human Nature thirty-five while seated in meditation beneath a tree at Bodh-Gaya in North India by realizing the truth (dharma). For Buddhists (as we saw for Hindus) truth is eternal but is blocked from realization by the karma we have created for ourselves through actions and thoughts in this and previous births. The cosmos has no beginning but goes through vast cycles. From time to time there arises a religious genius, a Buddha, who has purified himself of obscuring karma, has “seen” the truth or dharma and out of divine compassion teaches it to others so that they too may obtain enlightenment or release from suffering and rebirth. Buddhists think of Gautama as the most recent teacher in an infinite series of Buddhas. Gautama claimed to be only a human being having no special inspiration from any god. As Rahula puts it, “He attributed all his realization, attainments and achievements to human endeavor and human intelligence. A man and only a man can become a Buddha. Every man has within himself the potentiality of becoming a Buddha . . . .”1 Buddhist perfection is open to anyone willing to follow the Buddha’s example and strive for it. Why then is it so difficult? THE HUMAN CONDITION In his analysis of the human condition, Buddha adopted the same starting point that Hindus assumed—namely, that each of us is obscured by ignorance that results from the karma created by freely chosen actions and thoughts (especially our intentions) in this and previous lives. This karma, which we have created for ourselves, is stored up in our unconscious and acts as a veil of ignorance that keeps us from seeing the truth. It is this karma that causes us to be reborn and to repeat the beginningless and seemingly endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. But the Buddha differs sharply from Hindu teachers in the answer he gives as to how to get release from karma-samsara, this cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. However, before focusing on the Buddha’s answer, let us examine some points of emphasis in the analysis of the human condition that are unique to Buddhism. First, based upon his own experience, the Buddha emphasized that each person has both the freedom and the responsibility to work out his or her own path to perfection or release. Indeed, we will keep on being reborn until we do. But each of us...