Slicing and Dicing Buddhism
The whole is more than the sum of its parts
OK. I know the illustration is a bit silly, but “slicing and dicing” brought to mind the Swedish Chef from the Muppets, so I asked my AI graphics assistant to play with that theme. The point I’m getting at is this: Buddhism is more than the sum of its parts. If you’re unfamiliar with the weird-sounding names of the various parts, feel free to ignore them and listen for the essence of the teaching.
With the usual caveat that I’m giving you my perspective as a long-time practitioner/nerd and not as an authority, I’ll walk you through what I think is good to know and what I think is not important, especially if you’re new to Buddhism.
So, what is Buddhism?
It’s a religion and a philosophy. For me, it’s both. If you choose to see it as one or the other, please understand that the teachings are a system that fits together into a whole. There’s nothing wrong with practicing mindfulness to relieve stress, like my accountant does during tax season, for example. Just recognize that’s not practicing Buddhism.
You may choose to be an expert on Buddhist philosophy without practicing the religion, and you may practice the religion without understanding the philosophy. Your choice.
The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to end suffering for oneself and all beings. By ending suffering, we don’t mean we’ll put a stop to ever feeling physical or emotional pain. We mean to free ourselves from how our minds amplify the pain we encounter and add more layers of suffering—fear, worrying, clinging to what feels good, fleeing what might feel bad, obsessing over what might happen, escaping to the past or future. All of this leads many of us to a general feeling of dissatisfaction with our lives.
With that in mind, here are key elements found throughout Buddhism:
The Four Noble Truths are about ending suffering by learning to let go of our attachments, aversions, and the mistaken belief that we and what we perceive are discreet and permanent. We achieve this relearning by following the Eightfold Path to develop wisdom, ethics, and concentration.
The core precepts for laypersons are to refrain from killing, stealing (or cheating), lying (or gossiping), engaging in harmful sexual practices, and consuming intoxicants that cloud the mind.
We can succeed in this relearning through experiential—not cognitive—understanding, so meditation, chanting, or some other form of inward contemplation must accompany teachings and rituals.
Following this path, we’ll grow to understand that we and all beings have a pure Buddha Nature that has become obscured to some degree. Free of the obscurations, our Buddha Nature comprises wisdom, clear-sightedness, compassion, and loving-kindness.
We and all beings are one, or so tightly and intricately interconnected that we can understand ourselves as one.
The principle of karma is that everything we see, hear, taste, feel, smell, or perceive results from causes and conditions, and everything we do becomes a cause or condition that will have a result.
Because of the karma principle, Buddhism leaves no room for belief in a creator god that controls events, but it does not rule out belief in other forms of god or gods.
Many would describe enlightenment and Nirvana as the goal of Buddhism, but let’s not try to define them now and just see the goal as ending suffering for oneself and all beings. It may seem huge and ambitious, but it’s not hard to understand.
I hope the language I’ve used is broad and nontechnical enough to fit any form of Buddhism you might consider practicing. If it can’t be said for your practice, please let me know in the discussion below or by emailing melpine@substack.com.
That’s all you need to know to begin reading more about Buddhism and checking out teachers. In this period—rich in information-delivery modes—you can sample teachers by reading, listening, attending videocast events, or, when possible, in person. I’ll add a little below about schools of Buddhism, but your choice of a teacher is most important.
Buddhist practice is not a substitute for psychotherapy, but they are similar in that the relationship with the teacher or therapist is more important than the modality being used. You should like your teacher and sense at least a hint of emanating Buddha Nature. Trust is important and should be mutual. You should have faith that the teacher can help you move along your spiritual path and believe that the teacher has that faith as well—faith that you have the willingness and ability to get there.
Now, some slicing and dicing. It’s probably helpful to understand a little about what I’m calling the three waves of Buddhism, but the details are much less helpful and may get in your way if you give them priority over finding the right teacher. The waves are identified by the times that the teachings were given or revealed, but they don’t carry a practice-by date. Teachings from each wave get carried into the next, and modern teachers may identify primarily with any of the three waves.
The first wave of Buddhism goes by far too many names (Theravada, Hinayana, Nikaya, and Foundational, among others). It began with the Buddha’s oral teachings in the 5th Century BCE, as memorized, passed along, and transcribed in the next couple of centuries. The essence is what’s described above, except that the emphasis is on relief from suffering for oneself first.
In the second wave of Buddhism (Mahayana), the emphasis shifted to liberation from suffering for all beings. When it began is unclear, but textual evidence of it comes from the first centuries of the Common Era. Many schools of Buddhism well known in the West—like Zen, Vipassana (Insight), Pure Land, and Nichiren—fall under the umbrella of Mahayaya, but there’s no need to be familiar with each of them.
Vajrayana Buddhists (like me) call Vajrayana the third wave and give it that name. Some scholars include it in the second (and, in their opinion, final) wave. Again, the whole is much more important than the slicing and dicing. What’s important is that Vajrayana emphasizes the possibility of being liberated from suffering within one lifetime by becoming familiar with the pure Buddha Nature within through meditation and tantric practices. Commonly associated with Tibet, Vajrayana comprises four major schools—Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Geluk. Each contains numerous lineages. Then there are practices and approaches—like Dzogchen, Mahamudra, and Chod—primarily associated with one school or lineage but widely practiced in others, too. Many of the most widely respected teachers (including the Dalai Lama) are educated in all of the schools and teach with whatever method is most helpful to the students they’re addressing.
The last four sentences of the third-wave description are Exhibit One in my case for avoiding the slicing and dicing at least until you are thoroughly familiar with the basics and have a particular interest in learning the esoteric stuff. None of it is necessary to know.
I might tell someone that I’m a Vajrayana Buddhist and then explain that it’s the type of Buddhism associated with Tibet. Only if talking with someone thoroughly familiar with Vajrayana, I might add:
My practice is primarily Mahamudra and Dzogchen, with some Pure Land and Chod thrown in. My root teacher is Lama Surya Das. My primary current teacher is Mingyur Rinpoche, and I also benefit from teachings from Anam Thubten, Andrew Holecek, and Chakung Jigme Wangdrak Rinpoche.
To most of the world, that would sound like a recipe from the Swedish Chef.
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