The Three Treasures and "Humanistic" Buddhism of the 20th century
Item and associated files
Author
Lancaster, Lewis R. See all items with this value
Date
2000
Volume
1
Pages
123-128
ISSN
1530-4108 See all items with this value
Abstract
One of the most famous of the numbered lists in Buddhism is that of the Three Treasures, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. These translate into the veneration of the founder, the teaching and the community of followers. As we explore the nature of "Humanistic" Buddhism, it is important to view it in terms of the three most basic factors in the tradition.
First, we can consider some of the features of the life of the Buddha as they relate to our contemporary situation. The Buddhist tradition defines five or six destinies for rebirth of sentient beings. In these destinies, there is no special category for those who become a Buddha. The supreme enlightenment which leads to Nirvana does not occur to someone who is born into a sphere reserved for Buddhas. akyamuni, in common with all other described Buddhas of this world system, finds his final enlightenment in only one of the rebirth situations, and that is the human one. There is however, one category of persons who reach the final goal outside of the human condition. We are told that the path of the Arhat may include the possibility of being a Never Returner. There is a description of the layman Kakudha who, the Buddha reports, will achieve the final state from the heavens.1 But for Sakyamuni and Maitreya and the other Buddhas, birth as a human is the pattern that is needed before enlightenment. Even after the Nirvana, the Buddhists carefully gathered up the physical remains of the Buddha's body and enshrined them. The relic cult based on these physical remains was a major practice of Buddhism and helped constitute the institutional form of the early days of the religion. In this sense, Buddhism has been "Humanistic" from the very beginning. There was, and remains, a focus on the issues of being human that dominate the teachings of the tradition. This fact should be kept in mind when we evaluate the role of being human within Buddhism.
First, we can consider some of the features of the life of the Buddha as they relate to our contemporary situation. The Buddhist tradition defines five or six destinies for rebirth of sentient beings. In these destinies, there is no special category for those who become a Buddha. The supreme enlightenment which leads to Nirvana does not occur to someone who is born into a sphere reserved for Buddhas. akyamuni, in common with all other described Buddhas of this world system, finds his final enlightenment in only one of the rebirth situations, and that is the human one. There is however, one category of persons who reach the final goal outside of the human condition. We are told that the path of the Arhat may include the possibility of being a Never Returner. There is a description of the layman Kakudha who, the Buddha reports, will achieve the final state from the heavens.1 But for Sakyamuni and Maitreya and the other Buddhas, birth as a human is the pattern that is needed before enlightenment. Even after the Nirvana, the Buddhists carefully gathered up the physical remains of the Buddha's body and enshrined them. The relic cult based on these physical remains was a major practice of Buddhism and helped constitute the institutional form of the early days of the religion. In this sense, Buddhism has been "Humanistic" from the very beginning. There was, and remains, a focus on the issues of being human that dominate the teachings of the tradition. This fact should be kept in mind when we evaluate the role of being human within Buddhism.