Buddha’s Teaching As It Is –

Lecture 1: Buddha Bhikkhu Bodhi

PowerPoint presentation on Bhikkhu Bodhi’s
recorded lectures on ‘Buddha’s Teaching As It Is’.
Materials for the presentation are taken from the
recorded lectures (MP3) posted at the website of
Bodhi Monastery and the notes of the lectures
posted at beyondthenet.net

Originally prepared to accompany the playing of

Bhikkhu Bodhi’s recorded lectures on ‘Buddha’s Teaching
As It is’ in the Dharma Study Class at PUTOSI Temple,
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
This series of weekly study begins in November, 2010.
THE BUDDHA
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Lecture 1
THE BUDDHA – PART I
Bhikkhu Bodhi
UNDERSTANDING AND PRACTICE
Learn to have knowledge (pariyatti) and right
understanding and practice are essential to achieve the
goal of Buddha’s teachings, liberation from suffering.
Wisdom is the key to realisation, developed in three stages:
1. Wisdom born of learning the doctrinal framework;

2. Wisdom born of reflection - examine and explore the

teachings we have learned, and check them out against
our own experience, and verification
3. Wisdom born of meditation

The present course is to lay down the fundamentals of

Buddha’s teachings which are essential as foundation
for the practice.
DHAMMA – THE BUDDHA’S TEACHING
The Buddha’s teaching is called the Dhamma. The word,
‘Dhamma’ means that which sustain, to uphold. The word
signifies the Truth realised by the Buddha; it is a truth that
subsists by itself, the true nature of phenomena. The word
also signifies the path that leads to the realisation of the
Truth, and the doctrines that elucidate the Truth. The Buddha
does not create but that he discovers the Dhamma and
makes it known to the world.
The presentation of the Dhamma in the lectures to follow is
made from the standpoint of the Theravada school of
Buddhism. The principle source of the talks is the Tripitaka –
Sutta Pitaka, Vinaya Pitaka, and Abhidhamma Pitaka. The
main source relied on is Sutta Pitaka and the commentaries.
THE BUDDHA
The Buddha says,
‘The one who sees the Buddha sees the Dhamma’. The
deeper we understand the nature of the Buddha, the
deeper we understand the Dhamma. The converse is also
true.
The word "Buddha" is not a proper name but an honorific
title meaning "the Enlightened One" or "the Awakened
One.“ He is the founder and proclaimer of Truth. The title
is bestowed on the Indian sage Siddhartha Gautama,
who lived and taught in northeast India in the fifth century
B.C. From the historical point of view, Gautama is the
Buddha, the founder of the spiritual tradition known as
Buddhism.
“BUDDHA”
However, from the standpoint of classical Buddhist doctrine,
the word "Buddha" has a wider significance than the title
of one historical figure. The word denotes, not just a
single religious teacher who lived in a particular epoch,
but a type of person -- an exemplar -of which there have
been many instances in the course of cosmic time. The title
"Buddha" is in a sense a "spiritual office," applying to all
who have attained the state of Buddhahood. The Buddha
Gautama, then, is simply the latest member in the spiritual
lineage of Buddhas, which stretches back into the dim
recesses of the past and forward into the distant horizons
of the future.ave been many instances in the course of
cosmic time.
BUDDHA – FUNCTIONS AND QUALITIES
What is a Buddha? What are the distinguishing qualities of
a Buddha. The question can be considered from the
standpoints of functions and qualities.
To understand this point more clearly requires a short
excursion into Buddhist cosmology. The Buddha teaches
that the universe is without any discoverable beginning in
time: there is no first point, no initial moment of creation.
Through beginningless time, world systems arise, evolve,
and then disintegrate, followed by new world systems
subject to the same law of growth and decline. The time
from the emergence of the world system to the time it
completely dissolves is called a ‘kalpa’ (aeon).
BUDDHA – FUNCTIONS AND QUALITIES
Each world system consists of numerous planes of existence
inhabited by sentient beings similar in most respects to
ourselves. Besides the familiar human and animal realms, it
contains heavenly planes ranged above our own, realms of
celestial bliss, and infernal planes below our own, dark
realms of pain and misery. In all planes of existence life is
impermanent, subject to aging, decay, and death, just as
the world system itself. Even life in the heavens, though long
and blissful, does not last forever. Every existence
eventually comes to an end, to be followed by a rebirth
elsewhere. The beings dwelling in these realms pass from
life to life in an unbroken process of rebirth called samsara,
a word which means "the wandering on."
BUDDHA – FUNCTIONS AND QUALITIES
All life is caught up in the cycle of arising and passing
away; all life is impermanent and unsatisfactory.
Therefore, when closely examined, all planes and modes
of existence within samsara reveal themselves as flawed,
stamped with the mark of imperfection, impermanent,
subject to dukkha.
BUDDHA – FUNCTIONS AND QUALITIES
However, beyond the conditioned spheres of rebirth, there is
also a realm or state of perfect bliss and peace, of
complete spiritual freedom, a state that can be realized
right here and now even in the midst of this imperfect
world. This state is called Nirvana (in Pali, Nibbana), the
"going out" of the flames of greed, hatred, and delusion.
There is also a path, a way of practice, that leads from the
suffering of samsara to the bliss of Nirvana; from the
round of ignorance, craving, and bondage, to
unconditioned peace and freedom. This is the Noble
Eightfold Path. In the history any particular world system
when this path is known and followed, and some would
attain Nibbana.
BUDDHA – FUNCTIONS AND QUALITIES
In time this path will be lost to the world, utterly unknown,
and thus the way to Nirvana will be inaccessible. From
time to time, however, there arises within the world a man
who, by his own unaided effort and keen intelligence,
finds the lost path to deliverance. Having found it, he
follows it through to its end, realises Nibbana, and fully
comprehends the ultimate truth about the world. Then he
returns to humanity and teaches this truth to others,
making known once again the path to the highest bliss.
The person who exercises this function – twofold functions
of discovering the Path and proclaiming it to the world -
is a Buddha.
BUDDHA – FUNCTIONS AND QUALITIES
A Buddha is thus not merely an Enlightened One, but is
above all an Enlightener, a World Teacher. His function is
to rediscover, in an age of spiritual darkness, the lost path
to Nirvana, to perfect spiritual freedom, and teach this
path to the world at large. Thereby others can follow in his
steps and arrive at the same experience of emancipation
that he himself achieved. A Buddha is not unique in
attaining Nirvana. All those who follow the path to its end
realize the same goal. Such people are called arahants,
"worthy ones," because they have destroyed all ignorance
and craving.
BUDDHA – FUNCTIONS AND QUALITIES
The unique role of a Buddha is to rediscover the Dharma,
the ultimate principle of truth, and to establish a
"dispensation" or spiritual heritage to preserve the
teaching for future generations. So long as the teaching is
available, those who encounter it and enter the path can
arrive at the goal pointed to by the Buddha as the
supreme good.
BUDDHA – QUALITIES
The qualities of the Buddha can be dealt with from two
angles – elimination of all defects; and achievement of
excellent qualities.
The Buddha has eradicated completely and irreversibly all
mental defilements (kilesa) – greed, hatred, delusion, etc.
The Buddha is distinguished also by the three excellent
qualities:
1. Perfect purity in body, speech and mind.
2. Great wisdom in depth and range – knower of the
world; his knowledge encompasses countless world
systems; minds of all living beings.
3. Great compassion - works to alleviate the sufferings of
living beings – teach out of compassion.
 BUDDHA – FUNCTIONS AND QUALITIES
In summary, the Buddha is a world teacher, functions to discover
the Dhamma Truth and Path, proclaims and teaches it to the
world, lead sentient beings to liberation.
In terms of quality, the Buddha is one who eliminated all mental
defilements and has acquired excellent qualities -perfect purity,
perfect wisdom and great compassion.
Those who attain enlightenment through the instructions of Buddha
are called arahats, accomplished followers of Buddha.
The Buddha is one who discovers the Path without a teacher and
proclaims it to others. The Buddha also has outstanding
qualities, powers and knowledge that the arahats do not have.
There can be only one Buddha but many arahats in one historical
period.
THE BUDDHA – PART II
Bhikkhu Bodhi
HISTORICAL BUDDHA
The historical Buddha is known as Siddhartha Gautama (his
given names) or Buddha Gautama or Buddha Sakyamuni.
While we do not know the exact dates of his life, many
scholars believe he lived from approximately 563 to 483
B.C.; a smaller number place the dates about a century
later.
From traditional Buddhist perspective, the story of the
Buddha goes back many aeons into the past. To qualify
as a Buddha, a World Teacher, an aspirant must prepare
himself over an inconceivably long period of time
spanning countless lives. During these past lives, the future
Buddha is referred to as a bodhisattva, an aspirant to
the full enlightenment of Buddhahood.
PREPARING FOR BUDDHAHOOD
In each life the bodhisattva must train himself, through
altruistic deeds and meditative effort, to acquire the
qualities or virtues essential to a Buddha. These qualities
are called påramis or påramitås, transcendent virtues or
perfections. Different Buddhist traditions offer slightly
different lists of the påramis. In the Theravada tradition
they are said to be tenfold: generosity, moral conduct,
renunciation, wisdom, energy, patience, truthfulness,
determination, loving-kindness, and equanimity. In each
existence, life after life through countless cosmic aeons, a
bodhisattva must cultivate these sublime virtues in all their
manifold aspects to perfection.
PREPARING FOR BUDDHAHOOD
Sometimes he would dedicate several lives in succession to
perfect a particular virtue. Sometimes, he would appear
as an animal, a human being, a deity. Sometimes he
would be striving to develop concentration and insight
and other virtues. Buddhahood is a totalistic
accomplishment. All the qualities are perfected over
many life times.
In his last life as a Bodhisatta, he took birth as the son of
King Sudhodana and Queen Mahamaya in the Sakyan
clan. He was born as Siddhartha Gautama in the small
Sakyan republic close to the Himalayan foothills, a region
that at present lies in southern Nepal. He was born in
Lumbini. He grew up in Kapilavatthu. His birth was
attended by many miracles and wonders.
BIRTH AND QUEST FOR ENLIGHTENMENT
His father called in four court astrologists to foretell the
son’s future. All the astrologists except one predicted that
two possible great destinies for the child. If shielded
from the sorrows of the world, he would grow up to be a
universal monarch who would extend his rule over many
lands and bring benefits to many people. If the child
sees for himself the sufferings of the world, he would
leave the household life to become a Buddha whose
teachings would spread throughout the world. The one
remaining Brahmin has no doubt that the child would
become a Buddha. His father shielded the son from all
sufferings of the world, built him palaces, and ensured
him a life of luxuries and shelter.
BIRTH AND QUEST FOR ENLIGHTENMENT
As a royal youth, Prince Siddhartha was raised in luxury. At
the age of sixteen he married a beautiful princess named
Yasodhara and lived a contented life in the capital,
Kapilavatthu. Over time, however, the prince became
increasingly pensive. What troubled him were the great
burning issues we ordinarily take for granted, the
questions concerning the purpose and meaning of our
lives. Do we live merely for the enjoyment of sense
pleasures, the achievement of wealth and status, the
exercise of power? Or is there something beyond these,
more real and fulfilling?
 THE FOUR SIGHTS
According to a myth that expresses a real and powerful
psychological awakening, up to his 29th year, Prince
Siddhartha was completely hidden from aging, sickness, the
hard facts of life. During his outing, he saw four sights which
determined his future destiny:
1. Ageing – he saw an old man;

2. Sickness – he saw a sick man;

3. Death – he saw a funeral procession, a corpse.

These sights shattered all his delusions. He became very

discontent.
4. Ascetic – a recluse living a life of meditation seeking a way
to deliverance from suffering
QUEST FOR ENLIGHTENMENT
The prince now knew the direction he must move. The night
of the very day his son Rahula was born, at the age of
29, he left the palace. He entered the forest, cut off his
hair and beard, put on the saffron robe, and entered
upon the homeless life of renunciation, seeking a way to
release from the round of repeated birth, old age, and
death.
At the age of 29, stirred by deep reflection on the hard
realities of life, he decided that the quest for illumination
had a higher priority than the promise of power or the
call of worldly duty.
QUEST FOR ENLIGHTENMENT
At the time northern India could boast a number of
accomplished masters famous for their philosophical
systems and skills in meditation. Prince Siddhartha sought
out two of the most eminent, Alara Kalama and Uddaka
Ramaputta. The Bodhisatta mastered their teachings and
systems of meditation. He found that this led to deep
states of concentration (samadhi), but not insight into the
true nature of things. he found these teachings did not
lead to the goal he was seeking: perfect enlightenment
and the realization of Nibbana, release from the sufferings
of mundane existence. The bodhisattava abandoned these
teachers.
 QUEST FOR ENLIGHTENMENT
Having left his teachers, the Bodhisatta adopted a different path,
one that was popular in ancient India and still has followers
today: the path of asceticism, of self-mortification, pursued in
the conviction that liberation is to be won by afflicting the body
with pain beyond its normal levels of endurance. For six years
the Bodhisatta followed this method with unyielding
determination. He fasted for days on end until his body looked
like a skeleton cloaked in skin; he exposed himself to the heat
of the midday sun and the cold of the night; he subjected his
flesh to such torments that he came almost to the door of death.
Yet he found that despite his persistence and sincerity these
austerities were futile. Later he would say that he took the path
of self-mortification further than all other ascetics, yet it led, not
to higher wisdom and enlightenment, but only to physical
weakness and the deterioration of his mental faculties.
QUEST FOR ENLIGHTENMENT
Just then he thought of another path to enlightenment, one
which balanced proper care of the body with sustained
contemplation and deep investigation. He would later call
this path "the Middle Way," because it avoids the
extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification. He
had experienced both extremes, the former as a prince
and the latter as an ascetic, and he knew they were
ultimately dead ends. To follow the Middle Way,
however, he realized he would first have to regain his
strength. Thus he gave up his practice of austerities and
resumed taking nutritious food. At the time five other
ascetics had been living in attendance on the Bodhisatta,
hoping that when he attained enlightenment he would
serve as their guide.
QUEST FOR ENLIGHTENMENT
But when they saw him partake of substantial meals, they
became disgusted with him and left him, thinking the
princely ascetic had given up his exertion and reverted to
a life of luxury. Now he was alone, and complete solitude
allowed him to pursue his quest undisturbed.
One day, when his physical strength had returned, he
approached a lovely spot in Uruvela by the bank of the
Neranjara River. Here he prepared a seat of straw
beneath an asvattha tree (later called the Bodhi Tree)
and sat down cross-legged, making a firm resolution that
he would never rise up from that seat until he had won his
goal.
 MARA – INTERNAL STRUGGLES
Then the struggle for enlightenment took place in the mind of the
seeker, a struggle against all defilements and all afflictions. In
the text, the struggle was depicted allegorically as a battle with
Mara, the personification of all desire and attachment, the
tempter, the evil one. Mara called in all his army and hordes of
demons, tempting him with honor, power and fame, sovereignty
over the whole world; appeals to his love of family life; tries to
frighten him with thunder, lightning; tries to seduce him with
delight and pleasures; challenges his right to sit under the Bodhi
tree. The seeker pointed to the earth as his witness – his right
hand touching the ground, the fulfillment of his paramis.
As night descended he entered into deeper and deeper stages of
jhana until his mind was perfectly calm and composed.
ENLIGHTENMENT
Then, the records tell us,
in the first watch of the night he directed his tranquil mind
to the recollection of his previous lives, and there
unfolded before his inner vision his experiences in many
past births, even during many cosmic aeons;
in the middle watch of the night he developed the "divine
eye" by which he could see beings rising and passing
away; and beings taking rebirth in accordance with their
karma, their deeds;
and in the last watch of the night he penetrated the deepest
truths of existence, the most basic laws of reality, the law
of dependent arising, he developed vipassana and
realised the Four Noble Truths, and thereby removed from
his mind the subtlest veils of ignorance.
ENLIGHTENMENT
When dawn broke, the figure sitting beneath the tree was
no longer a Bodhisatta, a seeker of enlightenment, but a
Buddha, a Fully Enlightened One, one who had attained
the Deathless in this very life itself.
For several weeks the newly awakened Buddha remained in
the vicinity of the Bodhi Tree contemplating from different
angles the Dhamma (Skt: Dharma), the truth he had
discovered. Then he came to a new crossroad in his
spiritual career: Was he to teach, to try to share his
realization with others, or should he instead remain
quietly in the forest, enjoying the bliss of liberation alone?
ENLIGHTENMENT – INSIGHT & WISDOM
At first his mind inclined to keeping quiet; for he thought the
truth he had realized was just too deep for others to
understand, too difficult to express in words, and he was
concerned he would just weary himself trying to convey
his realization to others. But now the texts introduce a
dramatic element into the story. Just at the moment the
Buddha decided to remain silent, a high deity named
Brahma Sahampati, the Lord of a Thousand Worlds,
realized that if the Master remained silent the world
would be lost, deprived of the stainless path to
deliverance from suffering. Therefore he descended to
earth, bowed down low before the Awakened One, and
humbly pleaded with him to teach the Dhamma "for the
sake of those with little dust in their eyes."
COMPASSION FOR THE WORLD
The Buddha then gazed out upon the world with his
profound vision. He saw that people are like lotuses in a
pond at different stages of growth, and he understood
that just as some lotuses close to the surface of the water
need only the sun’s rays to rise above the surface and
blossom fully, so there are some people who need only to
hear the teaching in order to win enlightenment and gain
perfect liberation of mind. When he saw this his heart
was stirred by deep compassion, and he decided to go
forth back into the world and to teach the Dhamma to
those who were ready to listen.
THE BUDDHA’S MISSION
The first ones he approached were his former companions,
the five ascetics who had deserted him a few months
earlier and were now dwelling in a deer park at Sarnath
near Varanasi. He explained to them the truths he had
discovered, and on hearing his discourse they gained
insight into the Dhamma, he explained the Middle Way in
his first discourse, then the Four Noble Truths. On hearing
his discourses, the five ascetics gained insight into the
Dhamma, gained insight into the Dhamma, attained
various stages of enlightenment and finally arahatship.
In the months ahead his following grew by leaps and
bounds as both householders and ascetics heard the
liberating message, gave up their former creeds, and
declared themselves disciples of the Enlightened One.
 COMPASSION FOR THE WORLD
At the end of the first rains retreat, the Buddha gathered the
sixty disciples who were all arahats around him and sent
them out to the world, each in a different direction to spread
the liberating message of the Dhamma.
In his talks, he emphasised compassion as the motive for his
teaching. He said, “monks, I am free from all fetters, human
and divine. You too are free from all fetters. Therefore go
forth into the world, for the good of many folks, for the
happiness of the many folks out of compassion for the world,
and teach the Dhamma, make know the Dhamma which is
pure in the beginning, pure in the middle and pure in the
end. Teach the holy life, completely purified and perfect.’
 THE BUDDHA’S MISSION
Each year, even into his old age, he would wander among the
villages, towns, and cities of the Ganges plain, teaching all
who would lend an ear; he would rest only for the three
months of the rainy season (often at Jetavanna near Savatthi
or the Bamboo Grove in Rajagaha), and then resume his
wanderings, which took him from present Delhi even as far
east as Bengal.
In the second year after his enlightenment, he returned to
Kapilavatthu and taught the Dhamma to his family and
relatives. Many including his father reached various stages
of enlightenment. His son, Rahula became a novice monk and
later bhikkhu; his wife, Yasodhara became a bhkkhuni.
THE BUDDHA’S MISSION
He established a Sangha, an order of monks and nuns, for
which he laid down an intricate body of rules and
regulations; this order still remains alive today, perhaps
(along with the Jain order) the world’s oldest continuous
institution. He also attracted many lay followers who
became devoted supporters of the Master and his
Sangha.
After an active ministry of 45 years, at the ripe age of 80,
the Buddha headed for the northern town of Kusinara.
There, surrounded by many disciples, he passed away
into the Nibbana element with no remainder of
conditioned existence, severing forever his connection to
the round of rebirths.
APPEAL OF BUDDHA’S TEACHING
To ask why the Buddha's teaching spread so rapidly among
all sectors of northeast Indian society is to raise a
question that is not of merely historical interest but is also
relevant to us today. For we live at a time when Buddhism
is exerting a strong appeal upon an increasing number of
people, both East and West. I believe the remarkable
success of Buddhism, as well as its contemporary appeal,
can be understood principally in terms of two factors:
one, the aim of the teaching; and the other, its
methodology.
AIM OF BUDDHA’S TEACHING
As to the aim, the Buddha formulated his teaching in a way
that directly addresses the central problem at the heart
of human existence – the universal problem of suffering --
and does so without reliance upon the myths and
mysteries so typical of religions. He further shows the way
to the end of sufferings, to perfect peace and
unconditioned happiness. All other concerns apart from
this, such as theological dogmas, metaphysical subtleties,
rituals and rules of worship, the Buddha waves aside as
irrelevant to the task at hand, the mind's liberation from
its bonds and fetters. He deals with the problem of
suffering in a realistic way, personal and verifiable.
SELF-RELIANCE
He traces the suffering to its roots in our own mind, greed,
hatred and delusion; and that the solution has to be
found in the mind by purifying it of the defilements. As a
result of this diagnosis, the Buddha rejects all extraneous
religious forms which involve external reliance such as the
performance of rituals and sacrifices; appeal to
authoritative books; reliance on priests and saviours; and
reliance on divine figures to grant salvation.
The Buddha emphasises that self-reliance is the key to
deliverance. He says to his disciples, ‘be island to
yourself; be a refuge to yourself; look to no external
refuge.’
SELF-RELIANCE
As a way to deliverance, he holds up purified conduct and
correct understanding. The Buddha functions as a
teacher, not as a savior who grants salvation. The path to
deliverance has to be followed each one by himself
according to his own energy and understanding.
For these reasons, the Buddha rejects the call for blind faith
and belief. He asked his followers not to accept his
teachings out of faith or respect, but to examine,
investigate and verify it before accepting it.
UNIVERSALITY OF BUDDHA’S TEACHING
Universality. Because the Buddha’s teaching deals with the
most universal of all human problems, the problem of
suffering, he made his teaching a universal message, one
which was addressed to all human beings solely by
reason of their humanity. The Buddha placed no
restrictions on the people to whom he taught the Dhamma.
He held that what made a person noble was his personal
qualities and conduct, not his family and caste status. Thus
he opened the doors of liberation to people of all social
classes. Brahmins, kings and princes, merchants, farmers,
workers, even outcasts – all were welcome to hear the
Dhamma without discrimination, and many from the lower
classes attained the highest stage of enlightenment.
SKILFUL MEANS OF THE BUDDHA
To understand the success of the Buddha’s mission there is
one further feature of his method that we must take into
account. This is what might be called his "skilful means.“
Through his complete enlightenment, the Buddha had
gained the special ability to discover the precise way to
teach the people who came to him for guidance. He could
read deep into the hidden recesses of people’s heart,
perceive their aptitudes and interests, and frame his
teaching in the exact way needed to transform them and
lead them on to the path of freedom. The texts abound in
many examples of this supreme pedagogic skill of the
Buddha.
PARINIRVANA AND AFTERWARDS
The Buddha taught for 45 years. He had accomplished his
mission, his doctrines became widespread and fruitful; he
had established a sangha and followers who had
mastered the teaching. In his 80th year as he prepared to
pass into parinirvana, he set out to Kusinara with his
disciples. He laid down between two twin sal trees,
exhorted his disciples, ‘all conditioned things are
impermanent, subject to destruction; work out your own
salvation with diligence.’ these were the Buddha’s last
words, entered into successive stages of concentration
and from there entered into parinirvana. His body was
cremated with the full honor due to a universal monarch.