ch. 11+12 Summary and Answered Questions

Buddha with First Five Disciples
 

Getting into the context of Bresnan's chapter, we take on a deeper looking in both Chapters 11 and 12 about different kinds of Buddha terms. Chapter 11, it talks about Theravada Buddhism and its purpose with the 5 Dedications such: "No Killing", "No Unlawful Sex", "No Lying", etc. Chapter 12, it talks about the Mahayana Buddhism history of the rising aspect of Buddhism, with the nature and studies of different kinds based on the context of the chapter that's philosophical and based on the mind and soul who's into those types of things in religious aspects. It's like it mentions, "Modern study of the history of Buddhism is more interested in the common roots and shared interests of Theravada and Mahayana. Mahayana is seen not so much as a system in conflict with Theravada as it is a new direction, an opening up, in the evolution of Buddhism." (Bresnan, 296). This means that, when using these different types of Buddhism, it would have an understanding of the modern world and how it's being done in some way. Overall, I would like to highlight one of the questions in this post for each of the chapters.

In Chapter 11, one question I wanted to answer is: What is the meaning of the word Theravada? Since it is the of the mains in Buddhism, what's the meaning behind that term. According to the chapter itself, it was saying, "means 'teaching (doctrine) of the elders,' but in more everyday language...translate it simply as 'the orthodox tradition.'...these are divided into three groups which altogether are known as the Tipitaka (Tripitaka in Sanskrit), which literally means 'three baskets.'" (Bresnan, 252). What is meant is that as a tradition that's involved either in the bracket ways. Also, the 5 dedications would involve are:

1. No Killing

2. No Stealing 

3. No Lying

4. No Unlawful Sex

5. No Alcohol

This is an understanding since these are the practice that the monks would have to face when being true to the Eightfold Path in their daily life. Overall, this answers the

 chapter 11 question and how the heck dedications would impact the Theravada Buddhism.

The Big Buddha, Phuket
Karon, Thailand

In Chapter 12, another question from this is: "It is the universality of the Buddha-nature that is at the heart of the Mahayana revolution." What does this mean? When I read this question and looked for the quote, I find it difficult at first because it's in between the pages, until I finally found it after all the searching. So what it means is, "A love of Buddha and a love of the underlying harmony of Nature is one and the same thing. The harmony of Nature is the larger context within which human life takes its meaning. Thus, the natural order has a certain sanctity about it and is deserving of reverence. Even the smallest thing contains the mystery of the entire universe." (Bresnan, 273-274). I find this meaning behind the quote was how it mentions the idea of Buddhism and how it involves nature, along with the mystery of the universe since the "Mahayana revolution," based on how we evolve over time. Overall, based on the answers given for both chapters 11 and 12, gives a more understanding of what these types of Buddhism are all about.

Work Cited

Bresnan, Patrick. “Theravada Buddhism.”"Mahayana Buddhism." Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought, Routledge, New York, 2022, pp. 243–298.