Buddhism
Holy Scriptures... Rules
Festivals, Pilgrimages, Temples, Monasteries

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HOLY SCRIPTURES, RULES...

The original findings of Gautama were simple, but with so many scriptures, rules, regulations and ordinances after him have made of Buddhism the most complex and paradoxical of all Eastern religions.

- Gautama Buddha preached a religion devoid of "authority", "ritual", "speculation", "tradition", and devoid of the "supernatural"; "by this you shall know that a man is not my disciple, that he tries to work a miracle", said Buddha... Buddha preached a religion of "intense self-effort", whatever your caste, he told his followers, you can make it in this very lifetime... no fatalism!.

- But after him, the many holy scriptures and rules have made a religion of intense "authority", and "rituals to many gods", and the "occult" with much "supernatural" and magic... and the principle of the "middle way" between the extremes of ascetics and self-indulgence has been converted into the hard way of a most rigid "monasticism"...

    Buddhist Scriptures:

All of them written after Buddha's death. Amanda wrote down Buddha's thoughts and sermons, which became the main Buddhist scriptures.

    1- Tripitaka: The "three baskets", includes Buddha's sermons, rules for the monks and philosophical teachings, with 100 volumes,  about the size of 70 Bibles.
            - The First Sermon of Buddha at Benares 
            - "Way of Mindfulness" of Buddha, with the cemetery meditations

    2- The Mahayana adds the "Lotus Sutra" and the "Perfection of Wisdom", which includes the "Diamond Sutra", the "Heart Sutra"... and many others, like the "Lankavatara", with a total of more than 200 volumes.

    3- The Vajrayana (Tantrism Buddhism), adds among others, the holy scriptures of the "Kanjur" (108 volumes), and the "Tanjur" (225 volumes).

    4- The Tibetan literature translates and adds with a total of more than 300 volumes.

    5- The writings of the 6 Buddhist Councils are also considered holy scriptures (another 400 volumes). The last one was in Rangoon in 1954.

    Dhammapada, Saddharma Pundarika,  Mahayana Texts, Digha Nikaya  Sermons of Buddha: The First Sermon, of Benares  "Way of Mindfulness"

    Rules, Regulations, Ordinances:

    The 8-fold Path of Buddha has been converted into thousands of rules, regulations and ordinances for the monks and for the layman.

    - The general rules for a monastery (shanga) are 227 for monks and 355 for nuns... but every shanga adds its own specific rules and ordinances.

    Man:
    Man is the center of the Buddhist universe; self-control, not the remissions of sins is its central doctrine... but the state of "being worthy" contains 37 precepts; 3 "refuges" must be affirmed by all who belong to the Shanga: Refuge in Buddha, the dharma and the Shanga. There are ten "commandments". Three "principles" to obtain Nirvana, the first of which has 31 planes of existence... and 4 progressive stages of awareness: In the "Sotapatti Magga" stage the individual can no longer "kill, seduce, utter falsehood, take drugs, make evil utterances or have bad thoughts"....

    Festivals:
    - The 4 monthly holy days (Upasatha) are observed on the new moon and full moon.
    - The main festivals are celebrated on the 3 major events of Buddha's life: His birth, Enlightenment and death... but on different days in every country.   

    Pilgrimage:
    The main places for pilgrimage are the Buddha's birthplace at Lumini in Nepal; the spot where he achieved Enlightenment, at Buddha Gaya, in Bihar, state, India; and where he preached his first sermon at Sarnath near Varanasi (Benares)... and, of course, in every country, the main temples and monasteries.  

    There are 3 main kinds of buildings in Buddhism: Stupa, Temple and Monastery:

    1- The "Stupa", is the single most important monument, built to house relics of the Buddha or his disciples, or to commemorate a Buddhist event. In China and Japan are called "pagodas"; in Sri Lanka "dagabas". A most magnificent example is the one in Borodubur in Java.

    2- "Temples" (caitya), are many and beautiful, they enshrine a stupa or an image of the Buddha: In Ajanta, India, is carved into a cave. In Bankkok are may and beautiful; the Shewedagon temple in Rangoon, Burna, leaves an everlasting impression the viewer. The Angkor Watt in Cambodia is impressive.

    3- The "monasteries" (sangha), started on the rainy seasons (wassa) during the 3 months of July to October, when the mendicants and beggars got together. Now some of them are Villages with up to 10,000 monks...

    The Buddha's "images", are also impressive: In Watt Po Bangkok there are 394 in a row; In Japan, the largest ones, at Kamakura and Nara.