FEATURE
HEARING THE BUDDHA:
FOUNDATIONS OF THE BUDDHIST PATH
With this issue, Bodhi presents the second installment in its yearlong celebration of the 2550-year anniversary of the life and teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni.
While much in the social and cultural landscape of the Buddha’s lifetime was fixed by tradition and caste, some questioned the existing worldview and engaged in spiritual
experimentation and inquiry. Within this milieu, the Buddha proclaimed his profound and enduring message: Regardless of our circumstances in this life, we each possess the
potential to transcend all forms and causes of suffering and achieve full awakening—the state of enlightenment. The Buddha's message was faithfully preserved and diligently
practiced by his early disciples who became known as "the hearers," those who actually heard the teachings directly from the Buddha himself and then propagated them. Their
own enlightened activity became the foundation of the Buddhist path and gave rise to the early schools of Buddhism, which spread through India and Southeast Asia and are still
vital traditions today. Although centuries have passed, today we face the same questions: Why do we suffer? How can we transcend that suffering? What path will lead us to the f
ulfillment of our highest potential? The original wisdom of the Buddha speaks directly to our contemporary situation, if we also can become "hearers" of his timeless message.
Theravada, The Tradition of the Elders:
Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia
by Thubten Chodron
Based on the Pali Canon, the Theravadin tradition presents Buddha’s teachings by first explaining the four noble truths, the three higher trainings, and the noble
eightfold path. Practice combines special insight with the concentration of meditative quiescence, which can also be developed through meditation on metta, or
loving-kindness.
Mindfulness (Sati)
by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
Fully developed mindfulness is a state of total nonattachment and utter absence of clinging to anything in the world. If we can maintain this state, no other
means or device is needed to keep ourselves free of obstructions, to achieve liberation from our human weaknesses.
Sariputta: The Marshall of the Dhamma
by Nyanaponika Thera and Hellmuth Hecker
Venerable Sariputta was second only to the Buddha in the depth and range of his understanding and in his ability to teach the doctrine of deliverance. His life
is closely interwoven with the life and ministry of the Buddha—as skilled preceptor and exemplar, as kind and considerate friend, as guardian of the welfare of
the bhikkhus under his charge, as faithful repository of his Master’s doctrine.
Imagining the Buddha: Art and the Buddha through the Ages
In the early years, artists used symbols to convey the Buddha’s qualities
by Barbara Stewart
Early Buddhists strove to convey the essential truths of the Buddha’s life and teachings: wakefulness, his laws for living a mindful life, his kingliness over
this and all worlds. For 500 years, until the first century C.E., in what is called the aniconic period of Buddhist art, they depicted the Buddha through symbols
of aspects of his life and achievements, rather than by painting or carving his image.
ARTICLES
A Prayer for a Swift Journey to the Pure Realm
by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche
Song from the Heart:
The Lineage Supplication to the Kagyu Gurus
by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
The lineage principle is very important in Vajrayana. It has to do with keeping the instructions and the practice as authentic and as genuine as possible. When we transmit
such a lineage throughout many centuries, there is an element of preserving or passing down the enlightened wisdom itself.
REGULARS
Society & Environment — Buddhist Solutions to Global Conflict
by Sulak Sivaraksa
When Nagarjuna, the great third-century Indian Buddhist scholar, was asked to summarize the Buddha’s teaching, he replied, “Ahimsa,” nonviolence. Nonviolence is the most
basic teaching of the Buddha. Overcoming dualistic thinking that sees the world as good or evil, friend or foe, is the basis of nonviolence, and nonviolence is the basis of peace.
Seeds & Sprouts — The Plowing Festival
by Judith Simmer-Brown
The Lives of the Karmapas:
The Seventh Karmapa Chodrak Gyatso
by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
LAST WORD
Reprieve
by Dennis Hunter
