The Four Ignoble Truths

[sabaijai]

The Four Ignoble Truths of Tibetan Buddhism

By Tenzin Wangyal, Phayul, January 02, 2006

Boston, USA -- If the Buddha had lived in today's world, he would have simply written a self-help guide and called it "How to End Suffering". He would have written it in the vernacular and wanted it to be translated into as many languages as possible.

Well, my point is that Buddha Shakyamuni was most concerned about the subject of suffering. Based on his assessment of our plight as humans, he laid down the essence of his wisdom in The Four Noble Truths that can be summarized as such: that life is suffering; desire is the cause of suffering; that the cause of suffering can be eliminated; and this can be done by following the eight-fold path.

It is true that our ancestors have been very successful in preserving the teachings of the Buddha. According to most Tibetans, this is the “only thing that we can boast of”, as His Holiness himself put it. But it is important to know the kind of preservatives that have been used to preserve Tibetan Buddhism and that have given it its distinctive flavor. Tibetan Buddhism has been acknowledged to be a combination of three distinct religious traditions - the divine dharma (lha chos) or Buddhism; Bon dharma (bon chos) or the indigenous religious tradition of Tibet characterized by shamanistic and animistic rituals performed by priests; and the dharma of human beings (mi chos) or folk religion.

A man bade farewell to his wife as he embarked on a long journey, not knowing when he would return. A few months later, his wife gave birth to a boy. Two score and five years later, the man returned and his wife introduced the boy to him as his son. In spite of the sincerity in their faces, the man was hard-pressed to believe this – after all, the boy bore scant resemblance to him, and his mannerisms were different. Indeed, so much had changed in his absence … Similarly, imagine if the Buddha were to return today, what would he make of our marked piety as expressed in the spinning of prayer wheels, circumambulation, prostrations, recitation of texts, chanting of mantras, and performing rituals? Would he be impressed or smile in compassionate disagreement? Would he be like the man in the story, and not recognize Tibetan Buddhism as representative of his teachings?

Religion is defined as “a set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader” (The American Heritage Dictionary). Therefore, in evaluating Tibetan Buddhism, one must look not only at the teachings of the Buddha but also at the actual beliefs and practices of its proponents and followers. I will briefly outline four problems that plague Tibetan Buddhism as we practice it today, and taking my cue from the Buddha, I will make a modest attempt to identify the nature of the problem, its cause(s), the attainable goal and the path.

Superstition

I am not about to suggest that superstition is unique to Tibetans, but the abundance of such beliefs, the overwhelming majority of Tibetans who subscribe to some sort of superstition, and the degree of influence or control it exerts on their lives certainly lends credence to the saying that “superstition is the child of ignorance and the mother of misery”. By definition, superstitions are beliefs, practices, or rites irrationally maintained by ignorance of the laws of nature or by faith in magic or chance. To the superstitious among us, whistling at night is an invitation to ghosts and other malignant spirits; second-hand clothes must be lightly spat on before putting them on; a wart can be made to disappear by simply pretending to sweep it away with a broom on the fifteenth day of any lunar month; the sound of thunder is still a dragon’s roar; and leaving on a journey on a Saturday is inauspicious; and so on. And then there is the whole realm of dream interpretations. Instead of discrediting these superstitions as the Buddha clearly would have done, a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner (even if he is a master of empirically-based dialectics) will not only acknowledge the validity of these irrational beliefs of folk religion, in many cases, he will justify the beliefs using Buddhism, and advise a remedial course of action.

[this is a relatively long article, for the remainder see:]

Ignoble Truths

[Suthep_Steve]

An interesting article. I hope Tenzil Wangyal la doesn't get in too much trouble over it. Criticising Tibetan Buddhism can get you in a lot of trouble in the Tibetan community. As I know from personal experience.

The problem with what he says is how you decide what is Buddhist and what is not. It is very easy to say that this Sutra doesn't bare the same style as that one but as we say "Appearances are deceptive and your own opinions are unreliable." Should we reject the Tantras because they were revealed in mystical ways? Do we still have the capacity to extract the Dharma from the original sutras? When we look at the Sangha and Tulkus and see faults do those faults exist from there own side or do they tell us more about the state of our own minds?

Should we believe everything that our teachers tell us unconditionally? Of course not but if we have swallowed poison how long do we take to check the doctor's credentials and the theory behind his cure?

Personally I feel you have to be very sceptical for a long time and you have to get empirical feedback from the path or paths you are following but in the end you have to come to a position of trust and faith in one particular path at some point otherwise you are relying on yourself alone and there is no Nirvana in that direction.

[sabaijai]

An interesting article. I hope Tenzil Wangyal la doesn't get in too much trouble over it. Criticising Tibetan Buddhism can get you in a lot of trouble in the Tibetan community. As I know from personal experience.

The problem with what he says is how you decide what is Buddhist and what is not. It is very easy to say that this Sutra doesn't bare the same style as that one but as we say "Appearances are deceptive and your own opinions are unreliable." Should we reject the Tantras because they were revealed in mystical ways? Do we still have the capacity to extract the Dharma from the original sutras? When we look at the Sangha and Tulkus and see faults do those faults exist from there own side or do they tell us more about the state of our own minds?

Should we believe everything that our teachers tell us unconditionally? Of course not but if we have swallowed poison how long do we take to check the doctor's credentials and the theory behind his cure?

Personally I feel you have to be very sceptical for a long time and you have to get empirical feedback from the path or paths you are following but in the end you have to come to a position of trust and faith in one particular path at some point otherwise you are relying on yourself alone and there is no Nirvana in that direction.

Thorny stuff, I agree. Ven Buddhadasa often used to talk about separating cultural from spiritual in Buddhism, and was (temporarily at least) branded a heretic for it.

Proceeding according to empirical feedback is exactly what the Buddha himself recommended in the Kalama Sutta.

[camerata]

Similarly, imagine if the Buddha were to return today, what would he make of our marked piety as expressed in the spinning of prayer wheels, circumambulation, prostrations, recitation of texts, chanting of mantras, and performing rituals?

I read in one of John Blofeld's books that Buddhists circumambulate in a clockwise direction because the Buddha's original disciples showed their respect by standing with their right shoulder towards him. Anyone got any more info on this? Is that the reason a monk's right shoulder is bare?

Superstition

I am not about to suggest that superstition is unique to Tibetans, but the abundance of such beliefs, the overwhelming majority of Tibetans who subscribe to some sort of superstition, and the degree of influence or control it exerts on their lives certainly lends credence to the saying that “superstition is the child of ignorance and the mother of misery”.

It may be a generalization, but it seems to me that people born into Buddhism have the advantage that there aren't any doubts about rebirth whereas those who aren't (Westerners in particular) have the advantage of not being attached to rites, rituals and superstition.

[Suthep_Steve]

Similarly, imagine if the Buddha were to return today, what would he make of our marked piety as expressed in the spinning of prayer wheels, circumambulation, prostrations, recitation of texts, chanting of mantras, and performing rituals?

I read in one of John Blofeld's books that Buddhists circumambulate in a clockwise direction because the Buddha's original disciples showed their respect by standing with their right shoulder towards him. Anyone got any more info on this? Is that the reason a monk's right shoulder is bare?

I don't know about that but I seem to recall a story about the Buddha finding the only virtue left on Devadatta's consciousness being the fact that in a previous life as a crow he had flown round a stupa in a clockwise direction. The idea being that he could still achieve enlightenment due to the power of that previous action. I think I heard the story in a teaching although I may have read it.