To have an idea of the differences between Buddhism and pre-existing
beliefs and practices during this time, we can look into the
Samaññaphala Sutta in the Digha Nikaya of the Pali Canon.
In this sutra, a king of Magadha listed the teachings from many
prominent and famous spiritual teachers around during that time. He
also asked the Buddha about his teaching when visiting him.
The Buddha told the king about the practices of his spiritual path.
The list of various practices he taught disciples as well as practices
he doesn't encourage are listed.
The text, rather than stating what the new faith was, emphasized what
the new faith was not.
Contemporaneous religious traditions were caricatured and then
negated. Though critical of prevailing religious practices and social
institutions on philosophical grounds, early Buddhist texts exhibit a
reactionary anxiety at having to compete in religiously plural
societies. Below are a few examples found in the sutra:
"Whereas some priests and contemplatives... are addicted to high and
luxurious furnishings such as these — over-sized couches, couches
adorned with carved animals, long-haired coverlets, multi-colored
patchwork coverlets, white woolen coverlets, woolen coverlets
embroidered with flowers or animal figures, stuffed quilts, coverlets
with fringe, silk coverlets embroidered with gems; large woolen
carpets; elephant, horse, and chariot rugs, antelope-hide rugs,
deer-hide rugs; couches with awnings, couches with red cushions for
the head and feet — he (a bhikkhu disciple of the Buddha) abstains
from using high and luxurious furnishings such as these.
"Whereas some priests and contemplatives... are addicted to scents,
cosmetics, and means of beautification such as these — rubbing powders
into the body, massaging with oils, bathing in perfumed water,
kneading the limbs, using mirrors, ointments, garlands, scents, …
bracelets, head-bands, decorated walking sticks…..fancy sunshades,
decorated sandals, turbans, gems, yak-tail whisks, long-fringed white
robes — he abstains from ….means of beautification such as these.
"Whereas some priests and contemplatives... are addicted to talking
about lowly topics such as these — talking about kings, robbers,
ministers of state; armies, alarms, and battles; food and drink;
clothing, furniture, garlands, and scents; relatives; vehicles;
villages, towns, cities, the countryside; women and heroes; the gossip
of the street and the well; tales of the dead; tales of diversity
[philosophical discussions of the past and future], the creation of
the world and of the sea, and talk of whether things exist or not — he
abstains from talking about lowly topics such as these...
"Whereas some priests and contemplatives...are addicted to running
messages and errands for people such as these — kings, ministers of
state, noble warriors, priests, householders, or youths [who say], 'Go
here, go there, take this there, fetch that here' — he abstains from
running messages and errands for people such as these.
"Whereas some priests and contemplatives...engage in scheming,
persuading, hinting, belittling, and pursuing gain with gain, he
abstains from forms of scheming and persuading [improper ways of
trying to gain material support from donors] such as these.
"Whereas some priests and contemplatives...maintain themselves by
wrong livelihood, by such lowly arts as: reading marks on the limbs
[e.g., palmistry]; reading omens and signs; interpreting celestial
events [falling stars, comets]; interpreting dreams; reading marks on
the body [e.g., phrenology]; reading marks on cloth gnawed by mice;
offering fire oblations, oblations from a ladle, oblations of husks,
rice powder, rice grains, ghee, and oil; offering oblations from the
mouth; offering blood-sacrifices; making predictions based on the
fingertips; geomancy; laying demons in a cemetery; placing spells on
spirits; reciting house-protection charms; snake charming,
poison-lore, scorpion-lore, rat-lore, bird-lore, crow-lore;
fortune-telling based on visions; giving protective charms;
interpreting the calls of birds and animals — he abstains from wrong
livelihood, from lowly arts such as these.
"Whereas some priests and contemplatives...maintain themselves by
wrong livelihood, by such lowly arts as: determining lucky and unlucky
gems, garments, staffs, swords, spears, arrows, bows, and other
weapons; women, boys, girls, male slaves, female slaves; elephants,
horses, buffaloes, bulls, cows, goats, rams, fowl, quails, lizards,
long-eared rodents, tortoises, and other animals — he abstains from
wrong livelihood, from lowly arts such as these.
"Whereas some priests and contemplatives... maintain themselves by
wrong livelihood, by such lowly arts as forecasting: the rulers will
march forth; the rulers will march forth and return; our rulers will
attack, and their rulers will retreat; their rulers will attack, and
our rulers will retreat; there will be triumph for our rulers and
defeat for their rulers; there will be triumph for their rulers and
defeat for our rulers; thus there will be triumph, thus there will be
defeat — he abstains from wrong livelihood, from lowly arts such as
these.
"Whereas some priests and contemplatives...maintain themselves by
wrong livelihood, by such lowly arts as forecasting: there will be a
lunar eclipse; there will be a solar eclipse; there will be an
occultation of an asterism; the sun and moon will go their normal
courses; the sun and moon will go astray; the asterisms will go their
normal courses; the asterisms will go astray; there will be a meteor
shower; there will be a darkening of the sky; there will be an
earthquake; there will be thunder coming from a clear sky; there will
be a rising, a setting, a darkening, a brightening of the sun, moon,
and asterisms; such will be the result of the lunar eclipse... the
rising, setting, darkening, brightening of the sun, moon, and
asterisms — he abstains from wrong livelihood, from lowly arts such as
these.
"Whereas some priests and contemplatives...maintain themselves by
wrong livelihood, by such lowly arts as forecasting: there will be
abundant rain; there will be a drought; there will be plenty; there
will be famine; there will be rest and security; there will be danger;
there will be disease; there will be freedom from disease; or they
earn their living by counting, accounting, calculation, composing
poetry, or teaching hedonistic arts and doctrines — he abstains from
wrong livelihood, from lowly arts such as these.
"Whereas some priests and contemplatives...maintain themselves by
wrong livelihood, by such lowly arts as: calculating auspicious dates
for marriages, betrothals, divorces; for collecting debts or making
investments and loans; for being attractive or unattractive; curing
women who have undergone miscarriages or abortions; reciting spells to
bind a man's tongue, to paralyze his jaws, to make him lose control
over his hands, or to bring on deafness; getting oracular answers to
questions addressed to a mirror, to a young girl, or to a spirit
medium; worshipping the sun, worshipping the Great Brahma, bringing
forth flames from the mouth, invoking the goddess of luck — he
abstains from wrong livelihood, from lowly arts such as these.
"Whereas some priests and contemplatives...maintain themselves by
wrong livelihood, by such lowly arts as: promising gifts to devas in
return for favors; fulfilling such promises; demonology; teaching
house-protection spells; inducing virility and impotence; consecrating
sites for construction; giving ceremonial mouthwashes and ceremonial
bathing; offering sacrificial fires; administering emetics, purges,
purges from above, purges from below, head-purges; administering
ear-oil, eye-drops, treatments through the nose, ointments, and
counter-ointments; practicing eye-surgery (or: extractive surgery),
general surgery, pediatrics; administering root-medicines binding
medicinal herbs — he abstains from wrong livelihood, from lowly arts
such as these.
--
Thanks and best regards
J.Suresh
New No.3, Old No.7,
Chamiers road - 1st Lane,
Alwarpet,
Chennai - 600018
Ph: 044 42030947
Mobile: 91 9884071738
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