Chapter (3)
Theravada and External Beliefs and Worship
The Bodhisatta, Prince Siddhattha, practiced the Middle Way and sought the truth. In the year 103 of the Great Era, on the full moon day of Kason, a Wednesday, he realized the Four Noble Truths and attained Buddhahood.
After attaining Buddhahood, he observed and analyzed the life of human beings. At that time, he saw the great, erroneous customs of human society. The ways people around him were worshipping and believing were very different from the Dhamma he had realized.
At the time the Buddha arose, the doctrines based on thoughts and ideas were flourishing in the Majjhimadesa region of India. The customs of worship and belief established by the Dravidians around 3000 BC and those established by the Aryans starting around 2000 BC were widespread throughout India. This great force was dominant.
The Lord Buddha analyzed the customs of worship and belief of the people and lamented, “Alas, this great world is being destroyed.” His desire to preach the Dhamma he had realized faltered.
The Brahma Sahampati had to make a request out of compassion for the Buddha’s hesitation and reluctance. Only then did the Lord Buddha preach the truth he had realized. He pointed out the errors in the existing forms of worship and the fallacies in the beliefs. He guided them onto the true path of the truth.
The Revolution Against External Worship
At the time the Buddha arose, the doctrine that was at the forefront in the Indian region was the doctrine of AttÄ (self/soul). According to the doctrine of Hindu Brahmanism, the principle of attÄ is something created by the great Brahma.
The great Brahma exists in a celestial realm above. He is a being that does not age, does not die, and is eternal. He created the entire world and all living beings.
The great Brahma created a small attÄ, called a soul or spirit, within the human body. This small attÄ remains constantly within the body, and when the physical body perishes, it transfers to another physical body.
In order for this small attÄ to reunite with its original creator, the great Brahma, one must perform offerings, acts of worship, and devotion. With this concept, the doctrine of Brahma worship flourished.
The Lord Buddha, in his early teachings, refuted the doctrine of attÄ by preaching that there is no such thing as an attÄ principle within a human being, and that what is called attÄ cannot exist anywhere. The teaching of AnattÄ (no-self), which revolutionized the doctrine of attÄ, was the inaugural sermon of the Lord Buddha.
During the Buddha’s lifetime, if one were to unveil the tapestry of worship in India, one would see many other forms of worship. These forms of worship were also based on the Nature Worship imaginatively conceived by ancient peoples.
Around 3000 BC, the forms of worship of trees, forests, and mountains initiated by the Dravidian people still existed at the time of the Buddha’s arising. The Buddha arrived in the region between the kingdoms of Anga and Magadha. At that time, a hermit named Aggidatta was instructing his disciples to worship trees forests, and mountains. The Lord Buddha refuted Aggidatta’s teachings on worship as follows:
“Those who are terrified of danger take refuge in mountains, forests, and trees. Taking refuge in those mountains, forests, and trees is not a safe refuge. This form of worship is not a noble form of worship. Only the Three Jewelsāthe Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sanghaāare worthy of being taken as refuge. Taking refuge in the Three Jewels is the only safe refuge. It is the noble form of worship.”
Afterwards, the Buddha continued to preach the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths, and the hermit Aggidatta and his ten thousand disciples became Arahants.
The Zoroastrian religion of the Persian people is a doctrine that holds fire as supreme. This type of doctrine also flourished in India.
While the Buddha was residing at the Veluvana monastery, a nephew of Shin SÄriputta, a Brahmin, was a fire-worshipper who made offerings to the fire god. The Lord Buddha instructed that Brahmin as follows:
“A certain person makes offerings to fire for a hundred years. Another person, however, makes offerings for a moment to a monk who has the insight of vipassanÄ wisdom. Of these two individuals, the offering made to the person with wisdom is nobler. There is no benefit in making offerings to fire for a hundred years.” The worship of the fire god, Agni, is a custom of worship from the dawn of history. The Buddha taught in old JÄtaka stories that there is no benefit in these forms of worship.
The Naį¹ guį¹į¹ha JÄtaka
In a past life, when King Brahmadatta was ruling in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born into a line of Udicca Brahmins. From the day the Bodhisatta was born, his parents kept a fire. They looked after this fire to ensure it was not extinguished.
When the Bodhisatta reached the age of 16, his parents said, “Dear son, from the day you were born, we have raised and looked after this fire. If you wish to stay at home, study the three Vedas. If you wish to reach the world of Brahma, take this fire and go to the forest. Make offerings to the fire god and act in a way that pleases the great Brahma.”
The Bodhisatta, not wishing to live the life of a householder, took the fire that had been raised for him and departed for the forest. Living in the forest, he maintained the fire so it would not be extinguished and made offerings to the fire god.
One day, he received a cow as a donation from a border village. The Bodhisatta wished to offer the cow he received to the fire god. However, since he was in the forest, there was no salt. If he offered a dish without salt to the lord fire god, he would not be pleased. Therefore, he went to the village to get salt.
During the Bodhisatta’s absence, a group of hunters arrived, saw the cow, and killed and ate it. They left the tail, hide, and bones at that spot.
When the Brahmin Bodhisatta returned, he did not see the cow. He only saw the tail, hide, and bones. The Bodhisatta looked at the fire god he had been maintaining and realized the truth.
“The glorious fire god cannot even look after his own property. How could he look after me? There can be no benefit in continuing to make offerings to this fire,” he realized.
Having realized this, he said, “O, lord fire god, you are not a being who can even protect your own property. Now there is no more meat. You will have to eat this hide and short tail that are worthy of you,” and after throwing the tail and scraps, he departed.
The Lord Buddha taught through old, authoritative stories that there is no benefit in worshipping natural phenomena such as trees, forests, and mountains.
However, even to this day, people still worship trees, forests, and mountains, regarding them as spirits.
The trees called “Shin Gyi” (Great Lord) in Myanmar are a belief based on tree worship. In the villages of Myanmar, various kinds of “Shin Gyi” trees can be seen. It is said that these trees can cause harm to people, and they are feared. People dare not even pick their shoots and branches. Some even offer Eugenia flowers and cool water to them. The stories of these spirit trees are also often quite fantastic.
In Myanmar, it is not only trees but also forests that are feared. Offerings to spirits are also placed on mountains. Mount Popa, for example, has been famous as a spirit mountain since ancient times. The great nat called Min Mahagiri ruled over it. Later, the Negrito nat Mae Wunna became popular, and the power of the great nat Mahagiri waned. Now, at the summit of Mount Popa, a collection of various nat images has been sculpted and placed, making it appear like a great nat museum.
Today, in almost every mountain range in Myanmar, there is a local mountain and a local nat, each with its own story. People are still afraid of them. Those who dare to offend their parents and teachers dare not even wear their sandals under a “Shin Gyi” tree.
At this point, there is something to consider. The “Shin Gyi” trees where spirits reside are, for the most part, trees located near resting places and villages. In the deep forest, far from human habitation, there are no spirit trees. There is nothing for a spirit to possess. If there were spirits and they possessed trees, it would be quite difficult for the staff of the timber extraction industry.
Theravada View and the Savior
In the teachings of Theravada, there is no such thing as a savior. There is no one who can save you. The Lord Buddha himself was not a savior for humanity; he was only a “guide.”
The Lord Buddha declared:
“Dear sons, for your own liberation, you yourselves must strive and exert yourselves. The Buddhas can only guide and show the way!” This was explicitly stated in the Dhammapada.
Furthermore, in the AttadÄ«pa Sutta of the Khandha-vagga Saį¹yutta:
“Monks, relying on yourselves, making yourselves your own support, without relying on anyone else; relying on the Dhamma, making the Dhamma your own support, without relying on anything else, you must abide!” This is what he preached.
The Buddha taught that one should live one’s life according to the Dhamma. Human beings create their own lives themselves. One does one’s own karma and performs one’s own deeds. He taught that one creates the good and bad fortune for one’s own life by oneself. He also taught the principles of good and bad deeds. He instructed to avoid bad deeds and perform good deeds.
One who does a good deed creates a good result. One who does a bad deed creates a bad result. In this way, he guided and instructed according to the principle of the law of kamma, without deviation.
And yet, some people search for and worship a savior for their lives. They long for the help and protection of unseen gods and devas with their own imaginary thoughts. They make requests.
They also hope for the help and protection of great figures who they think can save them, even among their fellow human beings. They request for their fortune to open, for their star to rise. They bow their heads in reverence and make wishes for all sorts of blessings and good fortune.
In reality, however, no person can change the course of another’s good or bad fortune and steer it off course. It cannot be done by making wishes either. The Lord Buddha also taught this principle.
While the Lord Buddha was residing in the PÄvÄrika Mango Grove in NÄlandÄ, a village headman once made a request.
“Venerable Sir, the Brahmins in the western lands say that they can help people attain the world of the gods. Can the Venerable Sir also do so?”
“Village headman, if a large stone is thrown into the water, and people gather around and pray, ‘O great stone, float on the surface of the water, come up onto the bank,’ will that great stone float? Will it come up onto the bank?”
“It cannot float, it cannot come up, Venerable Sir.”
“Village headman, if a pot of ghee is broken in the water, the shards will sink in the water, and the ghee will float on the surface. At that time, if people gather around and pray, ‘May the ghee sink to the bottom of the water,’ will it sink?”
“It cannot sink, Venerable Sir.”
“Village headman, in the same way, if one has not done meritorious good deeds but has done evil deeds, no matter how much one prays for them to reach a good destination, it cannot be. For one who has done good deeds, it is not possible for them to suffer a bad destination by saying, ‘May it be so.’ They will only attain a good destination according to the results of their good deeds.”
As can be seen from this teaching, another person cannot save a human being. It cannot be achieved by praying. It cannot be achieved by another person making a wish for you. One can only create one’s own life. One is one’s own savior. This is as clear as a boat on the water.
Theravada and Belief in Omens and Portents
In the era when the Lord Buddha arose, concepts obsessed with omens and portents were also numerous in India. Encountering a good omen or portent was considered auspicious (maį¹ gala). If it was bad, it was considered inauspicious. This concept was called worldly auspiciousness. This obsession with omens and portents was also of three types.
(1) Diį¹į¹hamaį¹ gala: This is called auspiciousness based on the portent of sight. In the morning, upon waking from sleep, if one saw a swallow, a tailorbird, a pregnant woman, an unmarried young man or woman, a thoroughbred horse, or a bull, it was considered a good portent. If one saw a beggar, it was considered a bad portent, an inauspicious event.
(2) Sutamaį¹ gala: This is called auspiciousness based on the omen or portent of hearing. If one heard a joyful and happy sound or song, it was considered a good omen, an auspicious event. The same was true if one heard the cry of a green-billed malkoha. If one heard the sound of crying or the call of an unlucky bird, it was considered a bad omen, an inauspicious event.
(3) Mutamaį¹ gala: This is called auspiciousness based on the omen or portent of sensation (smell, taste, touch). If one experienced a good smell, a good taste, or a good touch, it was considered an auspicious omen. If one encountered a bad smell, a bad taste, or a bad touch, it was considered a bad portent, an inauspicious event.
Concepts such as auspicious days (rÄjayoga), inauspicious days (byatitsu), days of fortune, days of spirits, good and bad constellations, etc., are also included in this auspiciousness belief based on omens and portents.
The Buddha taught through various stories and past events that one should not place importance on and believe in such auspiciousness based on omens and portents.
In Benares, the parents of a son arranged for a young woman from another town for him. They gave a date and set it. The young woman’s parents also agreed and accepted. After giving the date, they went to ask an ÄjÄ«vaka ascetic, who told them that the day was not an auspicious one according to the stars.
Therefore, the groom’s family did not go on the appointed day but postponed it to a later date. The bride’s family, however, waited on the appointed day. Since time passed and they did not come, they married her off to another young man. Based on this past event, the Buddha taught:
“The benefit that is needed passes by the fool who waits for an auspicious star and an auspicious time. The time when one does a needed deed is itself the auspicious time and the auspicious star. What benefit can the stars in the sky bring?”
He thus declared the truth for those who choose auspicious days and times.
Regarding omens and portents, the Buddha also taught in the SampasÄdanÄ«ya Sutta. When asked, “How should monks who have renounced the household life, abandoning sensual pleasures, conduct themselves well?”
The Lord Buddha answered as follows:
“A monk who has thoroughly abandoned, through the noble path, worldly auspicious beliefs such as believing that a certain sign is auspicious for obtaining benefit; obsessions with calamities such as lightning strikes and fires; obsessions with the characteristics of animate and inanimate objects and possessionsāthat monk has abandoned all that is related to auspiciousness. That monk can be said to conduct himself well in the world.”
The Buddha thus taught, refuting such beliefs in omens and portents. These beliefs are merely creations based on the psychological thoughts of human beings. They are beliefs that are not immediate and tangible. These beliefs of the mind have no meaning. They are only beliefs that defile the human mind, and he taught that one should live by abandoning them. If one can live by abandoning them in this way, one is freed from the principles that bind the mind. One attains mental freedom.
The Lord Buddha himself refuted the obsession with omens and portents created by psychological thought. He demonstrated this through his own practice.
Stories Against the Obsession with Omens
In the city of RÄjagaha, there was a Brahmin who believed that omens and portents were auspicious. He did not believe in the Three Jewels. He was one who practiced a wrong view.
One day, a mouse entered the Brahmin’s clothes chest and chewed on the clothes. After the Brahmin had bathed and washed his head, he had someone fetch his clothes to change. Only then did he discover that the clothes had been chewed by a mouse.
The Brahmin looked at the clothes chewed by the mouse and thought, “If I keep clothes chewed by a mouse in this house, it will be destroyed. It is no longer auspicious. It is a bad omen. If I give these clothes, which are a bad omen, to my children or servants, they will be destroyed. I must have them taken to the cemetery and thrown away.”
He could not have a servant throw these clothes away. The clothes were of fine quality. Some of the clothes were still good to use. If the servants did not throw them away but kept them, they would be destroyed. Therefore, he had his own son throw them away.
“Dear son, do not let your hands touch these clothes. Take them with a pole and go. Leave them in the cemetery. My son, you must also wash your head before returning home.”
The Lord Buddha, knowing of this event, went to the cemetery and awaited the arrival of the Brahmin’s son.
The great Brahmin’s son also arrived at the cemetery, carrying the clothes with a pole. He met the Buddha, who was waiting for him. The Buddha asked, “Young man, why have you come to the cemetery?”
“Venerable Sir, at our home, the clothes were chewed by a mouse. It is no longer a good omen. If these things are kept in the house, it is said that it will be destroyed. That is why I have come to discard the mouse-chewed clothes,” he replied.
After that, the Brahmin’s son threw away the clothes. The Lord Buddha picked up and kept the discarded clothes and returned to the Veluvana monastery.
The Brahmin’s son related this strange event to his father, the great Brahmin. The great Brahmin became frantic and said, “The monk Gotama will be destroyed. I must go quickly and exchange them for new clothes,” and taking new clothes, he followed him to the Veluvana monastery.
“Venerable Gotama, if you keep the mouse-chewed clothes, both the Venerable Sir and the monastery will be destroyed. Do not keep them. If you do not have enough for a robe, take these new clothes and have a robe made. Please discard the mouse-chewed ones immediately,” he pleaded.
Only then did the Lord Buddha preach the Maį¹ gala JÄtaka to the Brahmin father and son. At the end of the Maį¹ gala JÄtaka, he preached to the Brahmin as follows:
“Great Brahmin, Arahants have abandoned worldly auspiciousness, solar and lunar eclipses, meteor falls, fires in the cardinal directions, and other calamities; omens related to various dreams; the practice of reading signs; and the practice of reading bodily marks. Arahants have transcended worldly auspiciousness and the obsession with omens and portents. They have utterly cut off attachment. At the very least, they no longer have any attachment to this world.”
The Brahmin father and son, having heard the teachings of the Buddha, attained the fruit of SotÄpatti.
During the Buddha’s lifetime, there was also a strange story of reading omens by sniffing a sword. King Kosala had a Brahmin who would read the omens of a sword. When blacksmiths presented a sword to the king, that Brahmin would sniff the sword and announce the omen.
If it was a sword from a blacksmith who had bribed him, the Brahmin would usually proclaim, “If this sword is used, one’s glory will increase. It is auspicious.” If he had not been bribed, he would usually criticize it, saying, “This sword is not auspicious.”
One day, a blacksmith who was dissatisfied with the Brahmin’s conduct filled the scabbard of a sword with fine chili powder and presented it. When the Brahmin took out the sword and suddenly sniffed it, the chili powder entered his nose, and he sneezed. Because the Brahmin was struck by the sword, his nose was cut off. The great Brahmin who read the omens for others seemed not to have been shown any omen that his own nose would be cut off.
The Five Principles of Theravada Buddhism
The Lord Buddha tirelessly refuted and preached against practices created through psychological thought and believed in through worship. He preached through countless authoritative proofs that no benefit can be gained from those forms of worship.
Buddhists who have taken faith in the teachings of the Buddha and have taken the name of the Buddha’s lay disciples (upÄsaka) must be able to abandon the various forms of worship based on attachment to perception. They must also be able to eliminate the various beliefs based on attachment to thought.
If one cannot eliminate these external forms of worship and belief, one cannot fully attain the qualities of an upÄsaka or upÄsikÄ desired by the Buddha. One cannot yet be called a pure Buddhist.
The Lord Buddha established a standard of five points for one to become a true lay follower (upÄsaka) who has taken faith in his teachings. They are:
- One must have faith (saddhÄ).
- One must have morality (sīla).
- One must not believe in superstitious omens (kotÅ«hala-maį¹ gala).
- One must be a person who believes only in kamma.
- One must not seek external forms of worship outside the SÄsana.
This is what they are.
(1) To have faith (saddhÄ) means to have full faith in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.
(2) To have morality (sīla) means to observe the code of personal conduct prescribed by Buddhism.
(3) To not believe in superstitious omens (kotÅ«hala-maį¹ gala) means to not believe in imaginative thoughts such as auspicious days (rÄjayoga), inauspicious days (byatitsu), eclipses of the sun and moon.
(4) To believe only in kamma means to be endowed with the right view of kamma as one’s own property (kammassakatÄ-sammÄdiį¹į¹hi) as explained in the ten bases of meritorious action. One must believe only in one’s own kamma and the results of one’s kamma. It means that one must not believe in other beliefs.
(5) One must not seek and devote oneself to forms of worship that are separate from the SÄsana, or to recipients of offerings outside the SÄsana. One must avoid forms of worship outside the SÄsana, such as spirits, Indra, Brahma, perfected beings, Bodetaws, Medaws, and weikzas.
Dear Theravada Buddhist laymen and laywomen, have you become true laymen according to the Buddha’s wish? Have you become true laywomen? You will have to answer this question for yourselves honestly.
Correcting Belief and Worship
It has been nearly 1,000 years since Myanmar accepted and worshipped pure Theravada Buddhism. During that period, other forms of worship and belief have also been mixed in and practiced at a lower level. They have never completely disappeared through the successive eras.
In some eras, forms of worship outside of Buddhism became fashionable. There were also times when they became excessive. At such times, the ruling kings had to provide guidance.
King Anawrahta was a king who carried out the purification of erroneous forms of worship.
During the reign of King Bayinnaung, nat worship was rampant. Great nat festivals where cattle and buffalo were killed and offered to the nats with alcohol were in vogue. Therefore, King Bayinnaung issued a royal order forbidding such practices.
King Anaukpetlun suppressed nat mediums who were deceiving the people and had their nat images collected and stored at the four-story monastery.
The King of Hanthawaddy had nat shrines and pavilions destroyed, saying that they were a hindrance to the people.
Some Burmese kings did not ignore such psychological forms of worship but provided guidance and control.
Burmese literary scholars have also pointed out the errors in such forms of worship and belief through their literature. The great poet Shin Maharatthasara described it as follows in his Ko-khan-pyo (Canto 42):
“Planetary transits, planetary influences, planetary eclipses; auspicious elements, friends and enemies; the three rising signs, the planetary positions at night; the original beginning, the end of fortune; the cycle of days, the four corners of the cemetery; guarded by spirits, residing with spirits; the eight occasions, the inauspicious kÄraį¹a; the five tithis, the timely yadayÄ; horoscopes and dreamsādo not perform them unceasingly. If one seeks the root cause of these things, they are mere conventions. It is only by destiny that things happen. Let the father believe, let the mind not waver. For all beings, in the endless and various worlds, to regard kamma as one’s own property is the true doctrine.”
The poet who composed the Than-way-ga-khan-pyo also pointed out the errors of worshipping the constellations as follows:
“In celebrations, with nat-keepers, they revel and shout, making a great clamor, calling out to the nats, intoxicated and confused. In various ways, in the human realm, they regard the false nats as their savior, clinging to the idea. That the nats, devas, and Brahmas are the root cause, that they create all beingsāthis is what they wrongly accept. But now, happiness and suffering are given by the nats, they think. This is a mistaken view, a wrong view.”
U Aw of Zinn-gyaung-kyar-thu also wrote disparagingly in his Kavi-lakkhaį¹a-that-pon-kyan:
“All wrong views are covered over at the shrine of the Taungbyone brothers.”
The great Man-lay Sayadaw, in his new Maghadeva-liį¹ kÄ, wrote:
“Saturday and Tuesday, the days and dates, and the various planets and stars, from the sky above, what good or ill can they do? The foolish people wait and watch for the auspicious time and stars, and the immediate happiness that they could have gained passes them by. Do not be tainted by wrong views,”āso he wrote. And also:
“As the soothsayers wish, with the planets and stars, what harm, even a little, can those stars in the sky, with their dim light, do to the lower races of men?”āso he wrote.
The great Sayadaw himself wrote that suffering and happiness are said in the scriptures to have their root cause in the two factors of kamma. He wrote that kamma alone is paramount.
Therefore, followers of Theravada Buddhism must strive and exert themselves according to the doctrine of action, where kamma is paramount, as taught by the Buddha. They must avoid forms of worship and belief that bypass the mother religion of Buddhism and long for a stepmother.
“O noble followers of Theravada Buddhism! From this day forward,
The beliefs based on irrational systems, may you cast them out from your minds. May you strive and exert yourselves to become individuals who bring honor to and illuminate Theravada Buddhism.”
The practices of devotion through psychological thought,
