Editing The Buddha (section)

== Teachings and views==
{{See also|Buddhist philosophy#The Buddha and early Buddhism|l1=The Buddha and early Buddhism}}

=== Historicity ===
==== Scholarly views on the earliest teachings ====
{{Main|Presectarian Buddhism}}
[[File:Kanishka Buddha detail.jpg|thumb|upright|The Buddha on a coin of [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] ruler [[Kanishka I]], {{circa|130}} CE]]

One method to obtain information on the oldest core of Buddhism is to compare the oldest versions of the [[Pali Canon]] and other texts, such as the surviving portions of [[Sarvastivada]], [[Mulasarvastivada]], [[Mahisasaka]], [[Dharmaguptaka]],{{sfnp|Vetter|1988|p=ix}}{{sfnp|Warder|2000|p={{page needed|date=October 2020}}}} and the Chinese [[Āgama (Buddhism)|Agamas]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Tse-Fu Kuan |title=Buddhist Foundations of Mindfulness |editor1=Edo Shonin |page=267 |chapter=Mindfulness in similes in Early Buddhist literature |editor2=William Van Gordon |editor3=[[Nirbhay N. Singh]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Mun-Keat Choong |title=The Notion of Emptiness in Early Buddhism |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1999 |page=3}}</ref> The reliability of these sources, and the possibility of drawing out a core of oldest teachings, is a matter of dispute.{{sfnp|Bronkhorst|1993}}{{sfnp|Vetter|1988}}{{sfnp|Schmithausen|1990}}{{sfnp|Gombrich|1997}} According to [[Lambert Schmithausen]], there are three positions held by modern scholars of Buddhism with regard to the authenticity of the teachings contained in the Nikayas:{{sfnp|Bronkhorst|1993|p=vii}}
# "Stress on the fundamental homogeneity and substantial authenticity of at least a considerable part of the Nikayic materials".{{efn|Two well-known proponent of this position are [[A.K. Warder]] and [[Richard Gombrich]].
* According to A.K. Warder, in his 1970 publication ''Indian Buddhism'', "from the oldest extant texts a common kernel can be drawn out".{{sfnp|Warder|2000|loc=inside flap}} According to Warder, c.q. his publisher: "This kernel of doctrine is presumably common Buddhism of the period before the great schisms of the fourth and third centuries BCE. It may be substantially the Buddhism of the Buddha himself, although this cannot be proved: at any rate it is a Buddhism presupposed by the schools as existing about a hundred years after the ''parinirvana'' of the Buddha, and there is no evidence to suggest that it was formulated by anyone else than the Buddha and his immediate followers".{{sfnp|Warder|2000|loc=inside flap}}
* Richard Gombrich: "I have the greatest difficulty in accepting that the main edifice is not the work of a single genius. By "the main edifice" I mean the collections of the main body of sermons, the four Nikāyas, and of the main body of monastic rules."{{sfnp|Gombrich|1997}}}}
# "Scepticism with regard to the possibility of retrieving the doctrine of earliest Buddhism".{{efn|A proponent of the second position is Ronald Davidson.
* Ronald Davidson: "While most scholars agree that there was a rough body of sacred literature (disputed){{sic}} that a relatively early community (disputed){{sic}} maintained and transmitted, we have little confidence that much, if any, of surviving Buddhist scripture is actually the word of the historical Buddha."{{sfnp|Davidson|2003|p=147}}}}
# "Cautious optimism in this respect".{{efn|Well-known proponents of the third position are:
* J.W. de Jong: "It would be hypocritical to assert that nothing can be said about the doctrine of earliest Buddhism [...] the basic ideas of Buddhism found in the canonical writings could very well have been proclaimed by him [the Buddha], transmitted and developed by his disciples and, finally, codified in fixed formulas."{{sfnp|Jong|1993|p=25}}
* Johannes Bronkhorst: "This position is to be preferred to (ii) for purely methodological reasons: only those who seek may find, even if no success is guaranteed."{{sfnp|Bronkhorst|1993|p=vii}}
* Donald Lopez: "The original teachings of the historical Buddha are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to recover or reconstruct."{{sfnp|Lopez|1995|p=4}}}}

Scholars such as [[Richard Gombrich]], Akira Hirakawa, Alexander Wynne and [[A.K. Warder]] hold that these Early Buddhist Texts contain material that could possibly be traced to the Buddha.{{sfnp|Gombrich|1997}}{{sfnp|Warder|2004|p={{page needed|date=October 2020}}}}<ref name=":1" /> [[Richard Gombrich]] argues that since the content of the earliest texts "presents such originality, intelligence, grandeur and—most relevantly—coherence...it is hard to see it as a composite work." Thus he concludes they are "the work of one genius".{{sfnp|Gombrich|2006b|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KCh-AgAAQBAJ&q=the%20work%20of%20one%20genius 21]}} [[Peter Harvey (academic)|Peter Harvey]] also agrees that "much" of the Pali Canon "must derive from his [the Buddha's] teachings".<ref>Harvey, Peter (1990). ''"An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices"'', p. 3. Introduction to Religion. Cambridge University Press.</ref> Likewise, [[A. K. Warder]] has written that "there is no evidence to suggest that it [the shared teaching of the early schools] was formulated by anyone other than the Buddha and his immediate followers."{{sfnp|Warder|2000|loc=inside flap}} According to Alexander Wynne, "the internal evidence of the early Buddhist literature proves its historical authenticity."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wynne |first1=Alexander |year=2005 |title=The Historical Authenticity of Early Buddhist Literature |journal=Vienna Journal of South Asian Studies |volume=XLIX |pages=35–70}}</ref>

Other scholars of Buddhist studies have disagreed with the mostly positive view that the early Buddhist texts reflect the teachings of the historical Buddha, arguing that some teachings contained in the early texts are the authentic teachings of the Buddha, but not others. Ainslie Embree writes that many sermons credited to the Buddha are the works of later teachers, so there is considerable doubt about his original message.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Embree |first=Ainslie |title=Sources of Indian tradition |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-231-06650-1 |editor-last= |editor-first= |edition=2nd |series=Introduction to Oriental civilizations |location=New York |pages=93}}</ref> According to Tilmann Vetter, inconsistencies remain, and other methods must be applied to resolve those inconsistencies.{{sfnp|Vetter|1988|p=ix}}{{efn|Exemplary studies are the study on descriptions of "liberating insight" by Lambert Schmithausen,{{sfnp|Schmithausen|1981}} the overview of early Buddhism by Tilmann Vetter,{{sfnp|Vetter|1988}} the philological work on the four truths by K.R. Norman,{{sfnp|Norman|2003}} the textual studies by Richard Gombrich,{{sfnp|Gombrich|1997}} and the research on early meditation methods by Johannes Bronkhorst.{{sfnp|Bronkhorst|1993}}}} According to Tilmann Vetter, the earliest core of the Buddhist teachings is the meditative practice of ''dhyāna'',{{sfnp|Vetter|1988|pp=xxx, xxxv–xxxvi, 4–5}}{{efn|Vetter: "However, if we look at the last, and in my opinion the most important, component of this list [the noble eightfold path], we are still dealing with what according to me is the real content of the middle way, dhyana-meditation, at least the stages two to four, which are said to be free of contemplation and reflection. Everything preceding the eighth part, i.e. right samadhi, apparently has the function of preparing for the right samadhi."{{sfnp|Vetter|1988|p=xxx}}}} but "liberating insight" became an essential feature of the Buddhist tradition only at a later date.

He posits that the Fourth Noble Truths, the Eightfold path and Dependent Origination, which are commonly seen as essential to Buddhism, are later formulations which form part of the explanatory framework of this "liberating insight".{{sfnp|Vetter|1988|pp=xxxiv–xxxvii}} [[Lambert Schmithausen]] similarly argues that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is attained after mastering the four ''dhyānas'', is a later addition.{{sfnp|Schmithausen|1981}} [[Johannes Bronkhorst]] also argues that the four truths may not have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, and did not serve in earliest Buddhism as a description of "liberating insight".{{sfnp|Bronkhorst|1993|p=107}}

[[Edward Conze]] argued that the attempts of European scholars to reconstruct the original teachings of the Buddha were "all mere guesswork".<ref>Conze, Edward (2000). "Buddhism: A Short History". From Buddhism to Sufism Series. Oneworld.</ref>

=== Core teachings ===
[[File:Fragmentary Buddhist text - Gandhara birchbark scrolls (1st C), part 31 - BL Or. 14915.jpg|thumb|[[Gandharan Buddhism|Gandharan Buddhist]] birchbark scroll fragments]]
{{Main|Early Buddhist Texts}}

A number of teachings and practices are deemed essential to Buddhism, including: the [[samyojana]] (fetters, chains or bounds), that is, the [[Saṅkhāra|sankharas]] ("formations"), the [[Kleshas (Buddhism)|kleshas]] (unwholesome mental states), including the [[three poisons]], and the [[āsava]]s ("influx, canker"), that perpetuate [[Samsara (Buddhism)|sa{{IAST|ṃ}}sāra]], the repeated cycle of becoming; the [[six sense bases]] and the [[Skandha|five aggregates]], which describe the process from sense contact to consciousness which lead to this bondage to sa{{IAST|ṃ}}sāra; [[Pratītyasamutpāda|dependent origination]], which describes this process, and its reversal, in detail; and the [[Middle Way]], summarized by the later tradition in the [[Four Noble Truths]] and the [[Noble Eightfold Path]], which prescribes how this bondage can be reversed.

According to N. Ross Reat, the Theravada Pali texts and the [[Mahāsāṃghika|Mahasamghika]] school's [[Salistamba Sutra|''Śālistamba Sūtra'']] share
these basic teachings and practices.<ref>{{cite book |last=Reat |first=Noble Ross |chapter= The Historical Buddha and his Teachings|editor-last=Potter |editor-first=Karl H. |title=Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophy, Vol. VII: Abhidharma Buddhism to 150 AD |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1996 |pages=28, 33, 37, 41, 43, 48}}</ref> [[Bhikkhu Analayo]] concludes that the Theravada ''[[Majjhima Nikāya|Majjhima Nikaya]]'' and [[Sarvastivada]] ''[[Madhyama Agama]]'' contain mostly the same major doctrines.{{sfnp|Anālayo|2011|p=891}} Likewise, [[Richard Salomon (South Asian Studies)|Richard Salomon]] has written that the doctrines found in the [[Gandhāran Buddhist texts|Gandharan Manuscripts]] are "consistent with non-Mahayana Buddhism, which survives today in the Theravada school of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, but which in ancient times was represented by eighteen separate schools".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lionsroar.com/how-the-gandharan-manuscripts-change-buddhist-history/|title=How the Gandharan Manuscripts Change Buddhist History|last=Salomon|first=Richard|date=20 January 2020|website=Lion's Roar|access-date=21 January 2020|archive-date=29 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229000500/https://www.lionsroar.com/how-the-gandharan-manuscripts-change-buddhist-history/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Samsara ====
All beings have deeply entrenched [[samyojana]] (fetters, chains or bounds), that is, the [[Saṅkhāra|sankharas]] ("formations"), [[Kleshas (Buddhism)|kleshas]] (unwholesome mental states), including the [[three poisons]], and [[āsava]]s ("influx, canker"), that perpetuate [[Samsara (Buddhism)|sa{{IAST|ṃ}}sāra]], the repeated cycle of becoming and [[Rebirth (Buddhism)|rebirth]]. According to the Pali suttas, the Buddha stated that "this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning. A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving."{{sfnp|Bodhi|2005|p=39}} In the ''Dutiyalokadhammasutta sutta'' (AN 8:6) the Buddha explains how "eight worldly winds" "keep the world turning around [...] Gain and loss, fame and disrepute, praise and blame, pleasure and pain". He then explains how the difference between a noble (''arya'') person and an uninstructed worldling is that a noble person reflects on and understands the impermanence of these conditions.{{sfnp|Bodhi|2005|pp=32–33}}

This cycle of becoming is characterized by ''[[dukkha]]'',{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=59}} commonly referred to as "suffering", ''dukkha'' is more aptly rendered as "unsatisfactoriness" or "unease". It is the unsatisfactoriness and unease that comes with a life dictated by automatic responses and habituated selfishness,{{sfnp|Siderits|2019}}{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=61}} and the unsatifacories of expecting enduring happiness from things which are impermanent, unstable and thus unreliable.{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=62}} The ultimate noble goal should be liberation from this cycle.{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=12}}

''Samsara'' is dictated by [[Karma in Buddhism|karma]], which is an impersonal natural law, similar to how certain seeds produce certain plants and fruits.{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=19}} ''Karma'' is not the only cause for one's conditions, as the Buddha listed various physical and environmental causes alongside karma.{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=20}} The Buddha's teaching of karma differed to that of the Jains and Brahmins, in that on his view, karma is primarily mental intention (as opposed to mainly physical action or ritual acts).{{sfnp|Siderits|2019}} The Buddha is reported to have said "By karma I mean intention."{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=49}} Richard Gombrich summarizes the Buddha's view of karma as follows: "all thoughts, words, and deeds derive their moral value, positive or negative, from the intention behind them".{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=13}}

==== The six sense bases and the five aggregates ====
The [[six sense bases|āyatana]] (six sense bases) and the [[Skandha|five skandhas]] (aggregates) describe how sensory contact leads to attachment and ''dukkha''. The six sense bases are eye and sight, ear and sound, nose and odour, tongue and taste, body and touch, and mind and thoughts. Together they create the input from which we create our world or reality, "the all". This process takes place through the five skandhas, "aggregates", "groups", "heaps", five groups of physical and mental processes,{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=135}}{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=114}} namely form (or material image, impression) ({{transliteration|pi|[[Rūpa#Buddhism|rupa]]}}), sensations (or feelings, received from form) ({{transliteration|pi|[[Vedanā|vedana]]}}), perceptions ({{transliteration|pi|[[Samjna (concept)|samjna]]}}), mental activity or formations ({{transliteration|pi|[[Saṅkhāra|sankhara]]}}), consciousness ({{transliteration|pi|[[Vijñāna|vijnana]]}}).<ref name="stevenemmanuel587">{{cite book|author=Steven M. Emmanuel|title=A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_lmCgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-119-14466-3|pages=587–588|access-date=23 October 2022|archive-date=11 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111053956/https://books.google.com/books?id=P_lmCgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.britannica.com/topic/skandha Skandha] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103012318/http://www.britannica.com/topic/skandha |date=3 January 2018 }} Encyclopædia Britannica (2013)</ref><ref name="Aggregates">{{cite journal |author= Karunamuni ND |title= The Five-Aggregate Model of the Mind |journal= SAGE Open |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages= 215824401558386 |date=May 2015 | doi=10.1177/2158244015583860|doi-access=free }}</ref> They form part of other Buddhist teachings and lists, such as dependent origination, and explain how sensory input ultimately leads to bondage to samsara by the mental defilements.

==== Dependent Origination ====
[[File:Buddha teaching Dharma, on lion throne.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Schist]] Buddha statue with the famed [[Ye Dharma Hetu]] [[dhāraṇī]] around the head, which was used as a common summary of Dependent Origination. It states: "Of those experiences that arise from a cause, The Tathāgata has said: 'this is their cause, And this is their cessation': This is what the Great Śramaṇa teaches."]]

In the early texts, the process of the arising of dukkha is explicated through the teaching of [[Dependent Origination|dependent origination]],{{sfnp|Siderits|2019}} which says that everything that exists or occurs is dependent on conditioning factors.{{sfnp|Hamilton|2000|p=22}} The most basic formulation of dependent origination is given in the early texts as: 'It being thus, this comes about' (Pali: ''evam sati idam hoti'').{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=131}} This can be taken to mean that certain phenomena only arise when there are other phenomena present, thus their arising is "dependent" on other phenomena.{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=131}}

The philosopher Mark Siderits has outlined the basic idea of the Buddha's teaching of Dependent Origination of dukkha as follows:
{{blockquote|given the existence of a fully functioning assemblage of psycho-physical elements (the parts that make up a sentient being), ignorance concerning the three characteristics of sentient existence—suffering, impermanence and non-self—will lead, in the course of normal interactions with the environment, to appropriation (the identification of certain elements as 'I' and 'mine'). This leads in turn to the formation of attachments, in the form of desire and aversion, and the strengthening of ignorance concerning the true nature of sentient existence. These ensure future rebirth, and thus future instances of old age, disease and death, in a potentially unending cycle.{{sfnp|Siderits|2019}}}}

In numerous early texts, this basic principle is expanded with a list of phenomena that are said to be conditionally dependent,{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|pp=141–142}}{{efn|One common basic list of twelve elements in the Early Buddhist Texts goes as follows: "Conditioned by (1) ignorance are (2) formations, conditioned by formations is (3) consciousness, conditioned by consciousness is (4) mind-and-body, conditioned by mind-and-body are (5) the six senses, conditioned by the six senses is (6) sense-contact, conditioned by sense-contact is (7) feeling, conditioned by feeling is (8) craving, conditioned by craving is (9) grasping, conditioned by grasping is (10) becoming, conditioned by becoming is (11) birth, conditioned by birth is (12) old-age and death-grief, lamentation, pain, sorrow, and despair come into being. Thus is the arising of this whole mass of suffering."{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|pp=141–142}}}} as a result of later elaborations,{{sfn|Frauwallner|1973|pp=167–168}}<ref>Hajime Nakamura. ''The Theory of 'Dependent Origination' in its Incipient Stage'' in Somaratana Balasooriya, Andre Bareau, Richard Gombrich, Siri Gunasingha, Udaya Mallawarachchi, Edmund Perry (Editors) (1980) "Buddhist Studies in Honor of Walpola Rahula". London.</ref>{{sfn|Shulman|2008|p=305, note 19}}{{efn|Shulman refers to Schmitthausen (2000), ''Zur Zwolfgliedrigen Formel des Entstehens in Abhangigkeit'', in ''Horin: Vergleichende Studien zur Japanischen Kultur, 7''}} including Vedic cosmogenies as the basis for the first four links.{{sfn|Wayman|1984a|p=173 with note 16}}{{sfn|Wayman|1984b|p=256}}{{sfn|Wayman|1971}}<ref name="Kalupahana1975p6">{{cite book|author=David J. Kalupahana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GOYGAAAAYAAJ|title=Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=1975|isbn=978-0-8248-0298-1|pages=6–7}}</ref>{{sfn|Gombrich|2009|pp=135–136}}{{sfn|Jurewicz|2000}} According to Boisvert, nidana 3-10 correlate with the five skandhas.{{sfn|Boisvert|1995|pp=147–150}} According to Richard Gombrich, the twelve-fold list is a combination of two previous lists, the second list beginning with ''tanha'', "thirst", the cause of suffering as described in the second noble truth".{{sfn|Gombrich|2009|p=138}} According to Gombrich, the two lists were combined, resulting in contradictions in its reverse version.{{sfn|Gombrich|2009|p=138}}{{efn|Gombrich: "The six senses, and thence, via 'contact' and 'feeling', to thirst". It is quite plausible, however, that someone failed to notice that once the first four links became part of the chain, its negative version meant that in order to abolish ignorance one first had to abolish consciousness!"{{sfn|Gombrich|2009|p=138}}}}

===== Anatta =====
The Buddha saw his analysis of dependent origination as a "Middle Way" between "eternalism" (''sassatavada'', the idea that some essence exists eternally) and "annihilationism" (''ucchedavada'', the idea that we go completely out of existence at death).{{sfnp|Siderits|2019}}{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=131}} in this view, persons are just a causal series of impermanent psycho-physical elements,{{sfnp|Siderits|2019}} which are ''[[anatta]]'', without an independent or permanent self.{{sfnp|Hamilton|2000|p=22}} The Buddha instead held that all things in the world of our experience are transient and that there is no unchanging part to a person.{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|pp=9, 67}} According to Richard Gombrich, the Buddha's position is simply that "everything is process".{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=10}}

The [[Buddhist philosophy#Anatta|Buddha's arguments against an unchanging self]] rely on the scheme of the five skandhas, as can be seen in the Pali ''[[Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta]]'' (and its parallels in Gandhari and Chinese)''.''{{sfnp|Hamilton|2000|pp=19–20}}<ref>Andrew Glass, Mark Allon (2007). ''"Four Gandhari Samyuktagama Sutras"'', pp. 5, 15.</ref><ref>Mun-keat Choong (2000), ''"The Fundamental Teachings of Early Buddhism: A Comparative Study Based on the Sutranga Portion of the Pali Samyutta-Nikaya and the Chinese Samyuktagama",'' Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, p. 59.</ref> In the early texts the Buddha teaches that all five aggregates, including consciousness (''[[Vijñāna|viññana]]'', which was held by Brahmins to be eternal), arise due to dependent origination.{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|pp=119–120}} Since they are all impermanent, one cannot regard any of the psycho-physical processes as an unchanging self.{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|pp=136–137}}{{sfnp|Siderits|2019}} Even mental processes such as [[Vijñāna|consciousness]] and will (''[[cetana]]'') are seen as being dependently originated and impermanent and thus do not qualify as a self (''atman'').{{sfnp|Siderits|2019}}

The Buddha saw the belief in a self as arising from our grasping at and identifying with the various changing phenomena, as well as from ignorance about how things really are.{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|pp=146–147}} Furthermore, the Buddha held that we experience suffering because we hold on to erroneous self views.{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=148}}{{sfnp|Hamilton|2000|p=27}} As [[Rupert Gethin]] explains, for the Buddha, a person is
{{blockquote|... a complex flow of physical and mental phenomena, but peel away these phenomena and look behind them and one just does not find a constant self that one can call one's own. My sense of self is both logically and emotionally just a label that I impose on these physical and mental phenomena in consequence of their connectedness.{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=139}}}}

Due to this view (termed ), the Buddha's teaching was opposed to all soul theories of his time, including the Jain theory of a ''"[[jiva]]"'' ("life monad") and the Brahmanical theories of [[Ātman (Hinduism)|atman]] (Pali: ''atta'') and [[purusha]]. All of these theories held that there was an eternal unchanging [[essence]] to a person, which was separate from all changing experiences,{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|pp=134–135}} and which transmigrated from life to life.{{sfnp|Hamilton|2000|p=20}}{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|pp=62–64}}{{sfnp|Siderits|2019}} The Buddha's [[Anti-essentialism|anti-essentialist]] view still includes an understanding of continuity through rebirth, it is just the rebirth of a process (karma), not an essence like the atman.{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|pp=73–74}}

==== The path to liberation ====
[[File:Seated Buddha, Pakistan or Afghanistan, Ghandhara region, 2nd - 3rd century, gray schist, HAA.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Gandharan]] sculpture of the Buddha in the [[Lotus position|full lotus]] seated meditation posture, 2nd–3rd century CE]]
[[File:20160124 Sri Lanka 3769 Polonnaruwa sRGB (25144212713).jpg|thumb|Buddha Statues from [[Gal Vihara]]. The Early Buddhist texts also mention meditation practice while standing and lying down.]]
{{Main|Buddhist paths to liberation|Buddhist meditation}}

The Buddha taught a path (''marga'') of training to undo the [[samyojana]], [[Kleshas (Buddhism)|kleshas]] and [[āsava]]s and attain ''vimutti'' (liberation).{{sfnp|Siderits|2019}}{{sfnp|Bodhi|2005|p=229}} This path taught by the Buddha is depicted in the early texts (most famously in the Pali ''Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta'' and its numerous parallel texts) as a "[[Middle Way]]" between sensual indulgence on one hand and mortification of the body on the other.{{sfnp|Anālayo|2013a}}

A common presentation of the core structure of Buddha's teaching found in the early texts is that of the [[Four Noble Truths]],{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|pp=63–64}} which refers to the [[Noble Eightfold Path]].{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=81}}{{efn|right view; right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=164}}}} According to Gethin, another common summary of the path to awakening wisely used in the early texts is "abandoning the [[Five hindrances|hindrances]], practice of the four establishments of mindfulness and development of [[Bojjhangas|the awakening factors]]".{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|pp=217–218}}

According to Rupert Gethin, in the Nikayas and Agamas, the Buddha's path is mainly presented in a cumulative and gradual "step by step" process, such as that outlined in the ''[[Samaññaphala Sutta]]''.{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|pp=83, 165}}{{efn|Early texts that outline the graduated path include the ''Cula-Hatthipadopama-sutta'' (MN 27, with Chinese parallel at MĀ 146) and the ''Tevijja Sutta'' (DN 13, with Chinese parallel at DĀ 26 and a fragmentary Sanskrit parallel entitled the ''Vāsiṣṭha-sūtra'').{{sfnp|Bucknell|1984}}{{sfnp|Anālayo|2011|p=189}}{{sfnp|Anālayo|2015}}<br>Gethin adds: "This schema is assumed and, in one way or another, adapted by the later manuals such as the [[Visuddhimagga]], the [[Abhidharmakosa]], Kamalasila's [[Bhavanakrama]] ('Stages of Meditation', eighth century) and also Chinese and later Tibetan works such as Chih-i's [[Mohe Zhiguan|Mo-ho chih-kuan]] ('Great Calm and Insight') and Hsiu-hsi chih-kuan tso-ch'an fa-yao ('The Essentials for Sitting in Meditation and Cultivating Calm and Insight', sixth century), [[Gampopa|sGam-po-pa]]'s Thar-pa rin-po che'i rgyan ('Jewel Ornament of Liberation', twelfth century) and [[Je Tsongkhapa|Tsong-kha-pa]]'s Lam rim chen mo ('Great Graduated Path', fourteenth century).{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=165}}}} Other early texts like the ''Upanisa sutta'' (SN 12.23), present the path as reversions of the process of Dependent Origination.<ref>Bodhi, Bhikkhu (1995). [http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/upanisa_sutta.pdf ''Transcendental Dependent Arising. A Translation and Exposition of the Upanisa Sutta''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206214116/http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/upanisa_sutta.pdf |date=6 December 2019 }}.</ref>{{efn|As Gethin notes: "A significant ancient variation on the formula of dependent arising, having detailed the standard sequence of conditions leading to the arising of this whole mass of suffering, thus goes on to state that: Conditioned by (1) suffering, there is (2) faith, conditioned by faith, there is (3) gladness, conditioned by gladness, there is (4) joy, conditioned by joy, there is (5) tranquillity, conditioned by tranquillity, there is (6) happiness, conditioned by happiness, there is (7) concentration, conditioned by concentration, there is (8) knowledge and vision of what truly is, conditioned by knowledge and vision of what truly is, there is (9) disenchantment, conditioned by disenchantment, there is (10) dispassion, conditioned by dispassion, there is (11) freedom, conditioned by freedom, there is (12) knowledge that the defilements are destroyed."{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=157}}}}

''[[Bhavana|Bhāvanā]]'', cultivation of wholesome states, is central to the Buddha's path. Common practices to this goal, which are shared by most of these early presentations of the path, include ''[[Buddhist ethics|sila]]'' (ethical training), restraint of the senses (''indriyasamvara''), ''[[Sati (Buddhism)|sati]]'' (mindfulness) and ''[[sampajañña]]'' (clear awareness), and the practice of ''[[Dhyana in Buddhism|dhyana]]'', the cumulative development of wholesome states{{sfnp|Bucknell|1984}} leading to a "state of perfect [[Upekkha|equanimity]] and awareness (''upekkhā-sati-parisuddhi'')".{{sfnp|Vetter|1988|p=5}} Dhyana is preceded and supported by various aspects of the path such as sense restraint{{sfnp|Anālayo|2017a|pp=80, 128, 135}} and [[mindfulness]], which is elaborated in the ''[[satipatthana]]''-scheme, as taught in the Pali ''[[Satipatthana Sutta]]'' and the sixteen elements of ''[[Anapanasati]]'', as taught in the ''[[Anapanasati Sutta]]''.{{efn|For a comparative survey of Satipatthana in the Pali, Tibetan and Chinese sources, see: {{cite book|ref=none |last=Anālayo |year=2014 |title=Perspectives on Satipatthana}}{{full citation needed|date=March 2021}}. For a comparative survey of Anapanasati, see: {{cite journal|ref=none |last=Dhammajoti |first=K.L. |date=2008 |title=Sixteen-mode Mindfulness of Breathing |journal=JCBSSL |volume=VI}}{{full citation needed|date=March 2021}}. }}

==== Jain and Brahmanical influences ====
[[File:Borobudur - Lalitavistara - 071 W, The Bodhisattva meets with Arada Kalama (11249495494).jpg|thumb|The Bodhisattva meets with [[Alara Kalama]], [[Borobudur]] relief.]]

In various texts, the Buddha is depicted as having studied under two named teachers, [[Alara Kalama|Āḷāra Kālāma]] and [[Uddaka Ramaputta|Uddaka Rāmaputta]]. According to Alexander Wynne, these were yogis who taught doctrines and practices similar to those in the [[Upanishads]].{{sfnp|Wynne|2004|pp=23, 37}} According to [[Johannes Bronkhorst]], the "meditation without breath and reduced intake of food" which the Buddha practiced before his awakening are forms of asceticism which are similar to Jain practices.{{sfnp|Bronkhorst|1993|p=10}}

According to Richard Gombrich, the Buddha's teachings on [[Karma]] and [[Rebirth (Buddhism)|Rebirth]] are a development of pre-Buddhist themes that can be found in [[Jainism|Jain]] and [[Brahminism|Brahmanical]] sources, like the ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]''.{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|pp=9, 36}} Likewise, ''[[Saṃsāra|samsara]]'', the idea that we are trapped in cycles of rebirth and that we should seek liberation from them through non-harming (''[[Ahiṃsā|ahimsa]]'') and spiritual practices, pre-dates the Buddha and was likely taught in early Jainism.{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=48}} According to [[K.R. Norman]], the Buddhist teaching of the ''[[three marks of existence]]''{{efn|Understanding of these marks helps in the development of detachment:
* ''[[Anicca]]'' (Sanskrit: ''anitya''): That all things that come to have an end;
* ''[[Dukkha]]'' (Sanskrit: ''{{IAST|duḥkha}}''): That nothing which comes to be is ultimately satisfying;
* ''[[Anatta|Anattā]]'' (Sanskrit: ''anātman''): That nothing in the realm of experience can really be said to be "I" or "mine".}} may also reflect Upanishadic or other influences .{{sfnp|Norman|1997|p=26}} The Buddhist practice called [[Brahmavihara|''Brahma-vihara'']] may have also originated from a Brahmanic term;{{sfnp|Norman|1997|p=28}} but its usage may have been common in the sramana traditions.{{sfnp|Bronkhorst|1993}}

=== Homeless life ===
The early Buddhist texts depict the Buddha as promoting the life of a homeless and celibate "''sramana''", or mendicant, as the ideal way of life for the practice of the path.{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|pp=85, 88}} He taught that mendicants or "beggars" ([[Bhikkhu|''bhikkhus'']]) were supposed to give up all possessions and to own just a begging bowl and three robes.{{sfnp|Kalupahana|1992|p=28}} As part of the Buddha's monastic discipline, they were also supposed to rely on the wider lay community for the basic necessities (mainly food, clothing, and lodging).{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=85}}

The Buddha's teachings on monastic discipline were preserved in the various [[Vinaya]] collections of the different early schools.{{sfnp|Kalupahana|1992|p=28}}

Buddhist monastics, which included both monks and nuns, were supposed to beg for their food, were not allowed to store up food or eat after noon and they were not allowed to use gold, silver or any valuables.<ref>Heirman, Ann (2019). "Vinaya rules for monks and nuns".</ref>{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=87}}

===Society===

==== Critique of Brahmanism ====
[[File:Indian Museum Sculpture - Buddha meets a Brahmin (9218121775).jpg|thumb|upright|Buddha meets a Brahmin, at the Indian Museum, [[Kolkata]].]]

According to Bronkhorst, "the bearers of [the Brahmanical] tradition, the Brahmins, did not occupy a dominant position in the area in which the Buddha preached his message."{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2011|p=1}} Nevertheless, the Buddha was acquainted with Brahmanism, and in the early Buddhist Texts, the Buddha references Brahmanical devices. For example, in [[Samyutta Nikaya]] 111, [[Majjhima Nikaya]] 92 and Vinaya i 246 of the [[Pali Canon]], the Buddha praises the [[Agnihotra]] as the foremost sacrifice and the [[Sāvitrī meter]] as the foremost meter.{{efn|''aggihuttamukhā yaññā sāvittī chandaso mukham.'' Sacrifices have the Agnihotra as foremost; of meter, the foremost is the Sāvitrī.{{sfnp|Shults|2014|p=119}}}} In general, the Buddha critiques the animal sacrifices and social system on certain key points.

The [[Brahmin]] caste held that the [[Vedas]] were eternal revealed (''[[Śruti|sruti]]'') texts. The Buddha, on the other hand, did not accept that these texts had any divine authority or value.<ref name=Tola&Dragonetti>Tola, Fernando. Dragonetti, Carmen (2009). ''"Brahamanism and Buddhism: Two Antithetic Conceptions of Society in Ancient India"''. p. 26: "This also implied the denial of the Shruti provided with characteristics which grant it the status of a substance. All this carried with itself also the negation of the authority of all the sacred texts of Brahmanism. Buddhism does not acknowledge to them any value as ultimate criterion of truth, as depository of the norms which regulate man's conduct as a member of society and in his relations with the Gods. Buddhism ignores the Shruti, the very foundation of Brahmanism."</ref>

The Buddha also did not see the Brahmanical rites and practices as useful for spiritual advancement. For example, in the [[Udāna]], the Buddha points out that [[Ritual purification|ritual bathing]] does not lead to purity: only "truth and morality" lead to purity.{{efn|"Not by water man becomes pure; people here bathe too much; in whom there is truth and morality, he is pure, he is (really) a brahman"<ref name=Tola&Dragonetti />}} He especially critiqued [[animal sacrifice]] as taught in Vedas.<ref name=Tola&Dragonetti /> The Buddha contrasted his teachings, which were taught openly to all people, with that of the Brahmins', who kept their [[mantra]]s secret.{{efn|"These three things, monks, are conducted in secret, not openly. What three? Affairs with women, the mantras of the brahmins, and wrong view.
But these three things, monks, shine openly, not in secret. What three? The moon, the sun, and the Dhamma and Discipline proclaimed by the Tathagata." AN 3.129{{sfnp|Bodhi|2005|pp=33–34}}}}

The Buddha also critiqued the Brahmins' claims of superior birth and the idea that different castes and bloodlines were inherently pure or impure, noble or ignoble.<ref name=Tola&Dragonetti />

In the ''Vasettha sutta ''the Buddha argues that the main difference among humans is not birth but their actions and occupations.{{sfnp|Omvedt|2003|p=76}} According to the Buddha, one is a "Brahmin" (i.e., divine, like [[Brahma]]) only to the extent that one has cultivated virtue.{{efn|"In a favourite stanza quoted several times in the Pali Canon: "The Kshatriya is the best among those people who believe in lineage; but he, who is endowed with knowledge and good conduct, is the best among Gods and men".<ref name=Tola&Dragonetti />}} Because of this the early texts report that he proclaimed: "Not by birth one is a Brahman, not by birth one is a non-Brahman; – by moral action one is a Brahman"<ref name=Tola&Dragonetti />

The ''[[Aggañña Sutta]]'' explains all classes or [[Varna (Hinduism)|varnas]] can be good or bad and gives a sociological explanation for how they arose, against the Brahmanical idea that they are divinely ordained.{{sfnp|Omvedt|2003|p=72}} According to [[Kancha Ilaiah]], the Buddha posed the first [[contract theory]] of society.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Omvedt |first=Gail |title=Review: The Buddha as a Political Philosopher |magazine= Economic and Political Weekly |volume=36 |issue=21 |date=1 June 2001 |pages=1801–1804 |jstor=4410659}}</ref> The Buddha's teaching then is a single universal moral law, one [[Dharma]] valid for everybody, which is opposed to the Brahmanic ethic founded on "one's own duty" (''svadharma'') which depends on caste.<ref name=Tola&Dragonetti /> Because of this, all castes including untouchables were welcome in the Buddhist order and when someone joined, they renounced all caste affiliation.<ref>Mrozik, Susanne. "Upali" in MacMillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, pg. 870.</ref><ref>Kancha Ilaiah, ''"God as Political Philosopher: Buddha's Challenge to Brahminism"'' p. 169</ref>

==== Socio-political teachings ====
The early texts depict the Buddha as giving a deflationary account of the importance of politics to human life. Politics is inevitable and is probably even necessary and helpful, but it is also a tremendous waste of time and effort, as well as being a prime temptation to allow ego to run rampant. Buddhist political theory denies that people have a moral duty to engage in politics except to a very minimal degree (pay the taxes, obey the laws, maybe vote in the elections), and it actively portrays engagement in politics and the pursuit of enlightenment as being conflicting paths in life.<ref>{{cite book |first=Matthew J. |last=Moore |title=Buddhism and Political Theory |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-19-046551-3 |page=2}}</ref>

In the ''[[Aggañña Sutta]]'', the Buddha teaches a history of how monarchy arose which according to Matthew J. Moore is "closely analogous to a social contract". The ''Aggañña Sutta'' also provides a social explanation of how different classes arose, in contrast to the Vedic views on social caste.<ref name=":7">{{cite journal |last=Moore |first=Matthew J. |date=2015 |title=Political theory in Canonical Buddhism |journal=Philosophy East & West |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=36–64 |doi=10.1353/pew.2015.0002 |s2cid=143618675 |url=https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&httpsredir=1&article=1026&context=poli_fac |access-date=9 February 2020 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727062753/https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&httpsredir=1&article=1026&context=poli_fac |url-status=live }}</ref>

Other early texts like the ''Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta'' and the ''Mahāsudassana Sutta'' focus on the figure of the righteous wheel turning leader ([[Chakravarti (Sanskrit term)|''Cakkavatti'']]). This ideal leader is one who promotes Dharma through his governance. He can only achieve his status through moral purity and must promote morality and Dharma to maintain his position. According to the ''Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta'', the key duties of a Cakkavatti are: "establish guard, ward, and protection according to Dhamma for your own household, your troops, your nobles, and vassals, for Brahmins and householders, town and country folk, ascetics and Brahmins, for beasts and birds. let no crime prevail in your kingdom, and to those who are in need, give property."<ref name=":7" /> The sutta explains the injunction to give to the needy by telling how a line of wheel-turning monarchs falls because they fail to give to the needy, and thus the kingdom falls into infighting as poverty increases, which then leads to stealing and violence.{{efn|"thus, from the not giving of property to the needy, poverty became rife, from the growth of poverty, the taking of what was not given increased, from the increase of theft, the use of weapons increased, from the increased use of weapons, the taking of life increased — and from the increase in the taking of life, people's life-span decreased, their beauty decreased, and [as] a result of this decrease of life-span and beauty, the children of those whose life-span had been eighty-thousand years lived for only forty thousand."<ref name=":7" />}}

In the ''Mahāparinibbāna Sutta,'' the Buddha outlines several principles that he promoted among the Vajjika tribal federation, which had a quasi-republican form of government. He taught them to "hold regular and frequent assemblies", live in harmony and maintain their traditions. The Buddha then goes on to promote a similar kind of republican style of government among the Buddhist Sangha, where all monks had equal rights to attend open meetings and there would be no single leader, since The Buddha also chose not to appoint one.<ref name=":7" /> Some scholars have argued that this fact signals that the Buddha preferred a [[Republicanism|republican]] form of government, while others disagree with this position.<ref name=":7" />

==== Worldly happiness ====
As noted by [[Bhikkhu Bodhi]], the Buddha as depicted in the Pali suttas does not exclusively teach a world-transcending goal, but also teaches laypersons how to achieve worldly happiness (''sukha'').{{sfnp|Bodhi|2005|pp=107–109}}

According to Bodhi, the "most comprehensive" of the suttas that focus on how to live as a layperson is the ''[[Sigālovāda Sutta]]'' (DN 31). This sutta outlines how a layperson behaves towards six basic social relationships: "parents and children, teacher and pupils, husband and wife, friend and friend, employer and workers, lay follower and religious guides".{{sfnp|Bodhi|2005|p=109}} This Pali text also has parallels in Chinese and in Sanskrit fragments.<ref>Pannasiri, Bhadanta (1950). "Sigālovāda-Sutta", Visva-Bharati Annals, 3: 150–228.</ref><ref>Martini, Giuliana (2013). "Bodhisattva Texts, Ideologies and Rituals in Khotan in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries", in Buddhism among the Iranian Peoples
of Central Asia, M. De Chiara et al. (ed.), 11–67, Wien: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.</ref>

In another sutta (''[[Dīghajāṇu Sutta]]'', [[Aṅguttara Nikāya|AN]] 8.54) the Buddha teaches two types of happiness. First, there is the happiness visible in this very life. The Buddha states that four things lead to this happiness: "The accomplishment of persistent effort, the accomplishment of protection, good friendship, and balanced living."{{sfnp|Bodhi|2005|p=124}} Similarly, in several other suttas, the Buddha teaches on how to improve family relationships, particularly on the importance of filial love and gratitude as well as marital well-being.{{sfnp|Bodhi|2005|p=110}}

Regarding the happiness of the next life, the Buddha (in the ''[[Dīghajāṇu Sutta]]'') states that the virtues which lead to a good rebirth are: [[Faith in Buddhism|faith]] (in the Buddha and the teachings), moral discipline, especially keeping the [[five precepts]], generosity, and wisdom (knowledge of the arising and passing of things).{{sfnp|Bodhi|2005|pp=111, 125}}

According to the Buddha of the suttas then, achieving a good rebirth is based on cultivating wholesome or skillful (''kusala'') karma, which leads to a good result, and avoiding unwholesome (''akusala'') karma. A common list of good karmas taught by the Buddha is the list of ten courses of action (''[[kammapatha]]'') as outlined in MN 41 ''Saleyyaka Sutta'' (and its Chinese parallel in SĀ 1042).{{sfnp|Bodhi|2005|pp=146–148, 156}}{{sfnp|Anālayo|2011|p=263}}

Good karma is also termed [[Merit (Buddhism)|merit (''puñña'')]], and the Buddha outlines three bases of meritorious actions: giving, moral discipline and meditation (as seen in AN 8:36).{{sfnp|Bodhi|2005|pp=151, 167}}