Traditional Moral Systems:

Buddhist Ethics

By Group II: Anonuevo, Noel Celebre, Carlos Chavez, Jasper

Pascual, Samuel

Who is “the Buddha”

• Name: Siddharta Gautama

• Place of Birth: Sakya Republic, the Himalayan Foothills

• Lived Between the 6th and 4th Century B.C.

• Disturbed by the Issues of Sickness, Anguish and Suffering, and the Riddle of Life and Death, Siddharta left at the age of 29 to find Enlightenment

Theravada and Maharayana

• The two major branches of Buddhism

• Theravada (The School of Elders) – Followed in Sri Lanka and SEA (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, etc.)

– Relatively conservative

– Comprises 38% of the total number of buddhists

• Maharayana (The Great Vehicle) – Followed mostly in East Asia (China, Korea, Japan, etc.)

– Comprises 56% of all buddhist practitioners

– Some Major Schools/Traditions: Zen, Pure Land, Tiantai, etc.

Key Concepts

• The 4 Noble Truths

• The Eight-Fold Path to Nirvana

• Nirvana

The 4 Noble Truths

• Existence is suffering

• The cause of suffering is craving and attachment

• Suffering ceases at some point and turns to Nirvana (liberation or total bliss)

• There is a path to Nirvana which is made up of eight steps (eight-fold path)

The Eight-fold Path

• Right Understanding

• Right Thought

• Right Speech

• Right Bodily Action

• Right Livelihood

• Right Effort

• Right Mindfulness

• Right Concentration

Wisdom

Ethical Conduct

Mental Training

• The Eightfold – Path is a three – fold scheme of moral training, consisting of:

– Practice of virtues and the avoidance of vices

– Practice of meditation

– Development of wisdom

Nirvana

• The goal of the Buddhist path

• The state where a person is freed from dukkha (suffering) and escapes samsara (cycle of rebirth)

• Sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa – Where a person reaches nirvana during their lifetime

• Nir-upadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa – Where a person reaches nirvana after death

The Moral Philosophy of Buddhism

• Centered around Kamma or Karma – volitional acts expressed through thought, speech,

and bodily action

• The Law of Moral Causation – Craftsmanship Model of Action

– Judicial Model of Action

OR

– Nibbana – oriented

– Accumulation of merit towards a better life

The Moral Philosophy of Buddhism

• Also covers:

– Utilitarianism

• The Buddhist utilitarianism is not a hedonistic one

– Altruism

• Buddhism has a strong altruistic component embodied in the 4 sublime virtues of: – Lovingkindness

– Compassion

– Sympathetic Joy

– Equanimity

The Moral Philosophy of Buddhism

• Also Covers

• Duties and Obligations to Others – Describes reciprocal relations of mutual obligations to each

other

– More humanistic rather than legalistic

– Unlike western ethics where a breach of duty is considered a sin or wrongdoing, Buddhism considers a breach of duty as an unskilled or unwholesome action

– Unhealthy fears regarding wrongdoings are considered obstructions to the leading of a morally good life

A Buddhist Perspective on The Place of Knowledge and Truth in Ethics

• “There is no relationship of logical entailment between facts and values, but a relationship of specific kinds of relevance according to which facts will provide a kind of grounding for values.”

• Certain facts are used as support for moral utterances

A Buddhist Perspective on The Place of Knowledge and Truth in Ethics

• Example

– Statement: Killing is bad.

• Facts: – Its genesis is rooted in hatred and greed

– It has harmful consequences to oneself and an obstruction to attaining nirvana

– It hardens one’s character and makes one develop a heavy conscience

• Conclusion:

• Killing is bad based from the gathered facts

As an Ethics of Virtues and Vices

• Buddhism deals with both dark states which darken the mind, and wholesome mental states which illumine the mind

– 16 defilements according to the Simile of the Cloth*

– Tenfold Evil Actions*

• “The Buddha requested people not only refrain from such evils, but also practice positive moral virtues

* - located in handout

As an Ethics of Virtues and Vices

• 3 Groups of Virtues

– Virtues of Conscientiousness

• Veracity, Truthfulness, and Righteousness

– Virtues of Benevolence • Lovingkindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, Equanimity

– Virtues of Self-Restraint

• Self-Control, Abstinence, Contentment, Patience, Celibacy, Chastity, Purity

As an Ethics of Virtues and Vices

• “The arrangement of the moral qualities shows that Buddhist ethics brings into play a wide variety of values to build up human character.”

• “Buddhism shows that there is a great range and variety of emotional responses which sharpens and expands our moral sensibility. The link between moral psychology and ethics is a central feature of the ethics of Buddhism.”

Buddhist Social Ethics

• The “Ethic of Care” and “Ethic of Rights”

– A blend of the principles of humanistic altruism and the notion of a righteous social and moral order.

• Caste and Racial Issues

– Rejected by the Buddha

– Distinctions based on birth are artificial; distinctions of character are the only ones worthwhile

Buddhist Social Ethics

• Concern for ALL Forms of Life

– Love not just for humans but for all animals and lower creatures as well

• Rules of Governance

– A king’s rule must be pervaded by benevolence and reflect the concept of dharma

Buddhist Perspective on Practical Ethics

• The Five Precepts of Buddhism

– Abstention from hurting and killing animals

– Abstention from wrong indulgence in sensual pleasures

– Abstention from lying

– Abstention from taking intoxicants

Buddhist Perspective on Practical Ethics

• Perspectives on Animal Treatment

– Animal sacrifices and hunting for pleasure are condemned

• Meat – eating and Vegetarianism

– Vegetarianism not strictly enforced but encouraged

• Perspectives about the accumulation of wealth

– “The layman has a right to property and accumulate wealth to ensure a decent existence for his family”

– Extravagance and miserliness discouraged

Contributions to Ethics in the Later Buddhist Traditions

• Both the “old” and “later” traditions are based off of the same doctrines BUT their techniques of communication and points of emphasis differ

– The Maharayana and Tantrayana • “to be a Bodhisatva or to be an Arahant?”

– Zen Buddhism and the practice of meditation • The Zen are critical of practice through force or convention

• Intended “means” can become an “end”

To end:

“Both the early and later traditions of Buddhism continue as living traditions in different parts of the Eastern world and their impact has spread to the West. While the ethics of Buddhism influence the daily lives of its adherents, there is a great admixture of rituals and conventional practices of each culture, which can be an aid to the development of the teachings of Buddha as well as an obstruction. Thus Buddhism continues to live in the minds of people at different levels, of routine practice and rituals, intellectual reflections and debate, and a deeper personal quest rooted in Buddhist meditation.”