The Buddha is thought to of lived until he was 80 years old approximately 2550 years ago, living roughly between 512-432 BCE,1 although no final date has been agreed on. The Buddha taught the dhamma he had realised for 45 years, from the age of thirty-five, around northern India & Nepal. Since then approximately 30 schools of Buddhism have came and gone, the oldest surviving early school being Theravāda2 (240BCE), who’s teachings are preserved in pāḷi,3 and written down approximately 300 years after the Buddha died.
Although these instructions are something to put to the test, and reviewed with circumspection, today it may seam daunting to try to practice the original teachings of the Buddha, especially when we consider the amount of time that has passed between the origins, the writing down and today. There is however growing evidence through comparative studies of the Chinese Āgamas and Pāḷi Nikāyas, which suggest they do indeed preserve the essence of the teachings present in the number of language scripts, and editorial forms, albeit edited and collected together to form the various extant canons, and would certainly hold the view of the group whom edited them. These texts were possibility collected together in the current forms for several reasons, including similarities of topic, purpose, and for ease in memorisation.
There has been, in the last few years, research, which suggests that the satipaṭṭhāna sutta is a collection of shorter teachings, collected together to form a more concise text. This is not to say that the Buddha did not teach the methods within this, or different satipaṭṭhāna text, however, this can suggest that areas of the satipaṭṭhāna suttas are not part of the original teaching. One way to discern the original content is to compare the suttas (discourses) and remove the sections and wordings not found in each, as Ajahn Sujato has done in “A History of Mindfulness.”
I would suggest, however, that if the satipaṭṭhāna sutta is indeed a compiled text, the reason for this, maybe, as an anthology for jhāna or meditative mendicants,4 rather than the study or doctrinal mendicants. This would have saved them from remembering many different teachings with their various introductions and aid them in the practice, alone in the forests. However, if the original teaching, which Ajahn Sujato calls the “satipaṭṭhāna mūla,” was shorter than what we have today, it may have been a teaching progressing from the ānāpānasati method into day-to-day life, either for those who found the ānāpānasati instruction unclear, or in-depth exploration of the different areas the ānāpānasati and satipaṭṭhāna suttas highlight.
This inevitably leads us onto ask, what did the Buddha teach?
Do not perform any unskilful acts, skilful acts are the way of a mendicant, so purify your own mind - this is the wisdom the Buddhas teach”
Khn Dhp verse 183
That is to say, if we follow the teachings and practice the eightfold path, we cease to do evil or unwholesome acts because we realise the downside to acting in such a manner, so we will start to do more things that are conducive to awakening in the here and now.
This sutta and others show the Buddha teaching using a narrative, a story of what an archetypical mendicant does, and how they practice in order to inspire the listener to practice likewise, essentially using conceit in a skilful way, to inspire a determination to practice. It should be no surprise that the Buddha would do this, we can see today when we hear a story of something someone has done, in either the news, or another medium. If we can relate to the hero as someone like we are, this can give us hope that there is good in the world, or that we can do this also, although, if the hero seams to otherworldly, any initial inspiration can easily fade at relatively minor hurdles. This is one possible reason why the Buddha would of refrained from using himself as an example all the time.
Some political & social philosophers or storytellers use myth and personal connection, either to inspire, or to warn to great effect, film production companies use a mixture of this and music to connect a character to an audience, and politicians use similar means to create a connection with their audience, or break a connection their opponent has.
This project has not been an easy task, at times and some interpretation as to how the passage may have been said today has been done, so may not reflect exactly the style or meaning the passage has in originally.
Notes
1
These dates are approximate; this is the authors personal preference based on a mean of the dates of each tradition found in ‘A Discussion on the Determination of the Date of the Historical Buddha’ Choong, Mun-keat (Wei-keat) Journal of Indian History Vol. LXXVI-LXXVIII, 1997-1999 http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-MISC/misc115791.html; also using the Nasa Eclipse Website, http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/phase/phasecat.html. The dates of the Buddhas Birth maybe according to our solar calendar system 27 May 512 BCE, his enlightenment at age 35, 27 May 497 BCE, and death, 28 May 432 BCE. However, scholars are leaning towards an earlier date of around 400 BCE. ‘The Dating of the Historical Buddha: A Review Article,’ L. S. COUSINS.
http://indology.info/papers/cousins/.
2
Doctrine of the elders; or Southern Buddhism: predominant in Thailand, Burma/Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka. Sometimes called Hīnayāna - lower vehicle, although this term is derogatory due to the meanings hīna has (diminished; dwindled; wasted away. (adj.), low; inferior; base; despicable.)
3
Traditionally thought to of derived from, or be a dialect of the Māgadhī language, originally an oral language in India and written in the scripts of the local areas, the common use name coming from the word for text. Further information can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali.
4
A mendicant whom practices meditation for higher states of mind (Samādhi.)
Although these instructions are something to put to the test, and reviewed with circumspection, today it may seam daunting to try to practice the original teachings of the Buddha, especially when we consider the amount of time that has passed between the origins, the writing down and today. There is however growing evidence through comparative studies of the Chinese Āgamas and Pāḷi Nikāyas, which suggest they do indeed preserve the essence of the teachings present in the number of language scripts, and editorial forms, albeit edited and collected together to form the various extant canons, and would certainly hold the view of the group whom edited them. These texts were possibility collected together in the current forms for several reasons, including similarities of topic, purpose, and for ease in memorisation.
There has been, in the last few years, research, which suggests that the satipaṭṭhāna sutta is a collection of shorter teachings, collected together to form a more concise text. This is not to say that the Buddha did not teach the methods within this, or different satipaṭṭhāna text, however, this can suggest that areas of the satipaṭṭhāna suttas are not part of the original teaching. One way to discern the original content is to compare the suttas (discourses) and remove the sections and wordings not found in each, as Ajahn Sujato has done in “A History of Mindfulness.”
I would suggest, however, that if the satipaṭṭhāna sutta is indeed a compiled text, the reason for this, maybe, as an anthology for jhāna or meditative mendicants,4 rather than the study or doctrinal mendicants. This would have saved them from remembering many different teachings with their various introductions and aid them in the practice, alone in the forests. However, if the original teaching, which Ajahn Sujato calls the “satipaṭṭhāna mūla,” was shorter than what we have today, it may have been a teaching progressing from the ānāpānasati method into day-to-day life, either for those who found the ānāpānasati instruction unclear, or in-depth exploration of the different areas the ānāpānasati and satipaṭṭhāna suttas highlight.
This inevitably leads us onto ask, what did the Buddha teach?
Do not perform any unskilful acts, skilful acts are the way of a mendicant, so purify your own mind - this is the wisdom the Buddhas teach”
Khn Dhp verse 183
That is to say, if we follow the teachings and practice the eightfold path, we cease to do evil or unwholesome acts because we realise the downside to acting in such a manner, so we will start to do more things that are conducive to awakening in the here and now.
This sutta and others show the Buddha teaching using a narrative, a story of what an archetypical mendicant does, and how they practice in order to inspire the listener to practice likewise, essentially using conceit in a skilful way, to inspire a determination to practice. It should be no surprise that the Buddha would do this, we can see today when we hear a story of something someone has done, in either the news, or another medium. If we can relate to the hero as someone like we are, this can give us hope that there is good in the world, or that we can do this also, although, if the hero seams to otherworldly, any initial inspiration can easily fade at relatively minor hurdles. This is one possible reason why the Buddha would of refrained from using himself as an example all the time.
Some political & social philosophers or storytellers use myth and personal connection, either to inspire, or to warn to great effect, film production companies use a mixture of this and music to connect a character to an audience, and politicians use similar means to create a connection with their audience, or break a connection their opponent has.
This project has not been an easy task, at times and some interpretation as to how the passage may have been said today has been done, so may not reflect exactly the style or meaning the passage has in originally.
Notes
1
These dates are approximate; this is the authors personal preference based on a mean of the dates of each tradition found in ‘A Discussion on the Determination of the Date of the Historical Buddha’ Choong, Mun-keat (Wei-keat) Journal of Indian History Vol. LXXVI-LXXVIII, 1997-1999 http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-MISC/misc115791.html; also using the Nasa Eclipse Website, http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/phase/phasecat.html. The dates of the Buddhas Birth maybe according to our solar calendar system 27 May 512 BCE, his enlightenment at age 35, 27 May 497 BCE, and death, 28 May 432 BCE. However, scholars are leaning towards an earlier date of around 400 BCE. ‘The Dating of the Historical Buddha: A Review Article,’ L. S. COUSINS.
http://indology.info/papers/cousins/.
2
Doctrine of the elders; or Southern Buddhism: predominant in Thailand, Burma/Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka. Sometimes called Hīnayāna - lower vehicle, although this term is derogatory due to the meanings hīna has (diminished; dwindled; wasted away. (adj.), low; inferior; base; despicable.)
3
Traditionally thought to of derived from, or be a dialect of the Māgadhī language, originally an oral language in India and written in the scripts of the local areas, the common use name coming from the word for text. Further information can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali.
4
A mendicant whom practices meditation for higher states of mind (Samādhi.)
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