BUDDHISM-The Dalai Lama's Faith

THROUGHOUT Asia, some 500 million people--including the Dalai Lama--practice Buddhism. An outgrowth of Hinduism, Buddhism accepts the central Hindu idea of reincarnation: every soul turns on a wheel through a recurring drama of birth, death and rebirth. Existence is pain. The root of pain is desire. By following the Way of Buddha, a man can eliminate desire and win ultimate knowledge. Depending on his works, a man may be reincarnated as a prince or a panda. Therefore, all life is sacred. A true Buddhist should not kill a fly or step on an insect because--literally--it may be somebody's grandmother.

Founder. Gautama, the Buddha, the Enlightened One, was born in northern India six centuries before Christ. As the devout tradition goes, Gautama, a king's son, married a beautiful princess, had a child and lived in silken luxury until he was 29. Then, seeing in turn a sick man, a corpse and an emaciated holy man, he was shocked into a realization of the harshness of life. He became a penniless wanderer and for six years mortified his flesh before deciding that extreme asceticism was not the path of deliverance.

Sitting 49 days under a bo tree, Gautama won through to enlightenment and could have vanished into Nirvana, the final release from the wheel of rebirth. It is the essence of the Buddhist tradition of humanity that he refused to abandon mankind to darkness and pain. He labored until he was 80 to show man the way to enlightenment, and then, in the fullness of years, ended his final reincarnation.

Teachings. Gautama the Buddha left no works written in his own hand, and Buddhism has its problems determining which of the many writings of his disciples most truly reflect the Master's words. Buddha's teachings have some resemblance to those of the later Stoics: he argues that liberation is not gained by rites, liturgies, prayers, magic or sacraments, but only by the deliberate inner search for self. Most effective is right thought and right behavior. Sin does not offend any god, but only the man who commits it. This stern doctrine proved too barren for most men. Within 200 years, Buddha was transformed by followers from Master into Lord, and surrounded by all manner of legend, demonology and ceremonial.

Schisms. Buddhism split into two great branches: 1) the Hinayana, or Little Vehicle, which in modified form adheres to Buddha's original doctrines and survives in Ceylon and Southeast Asia; 2) the Mahayana, or Great Vehicle, which attaches importance to repetitive prayer and elaborate ritual, has taken on the trappings of magic and multiple gods, and is practiced also in China, Japan and Korea.

Tibetan Buddhism, called Lamaism, is a variant of Mahayana, basing a large part of its practice on the revelatory Tantric texts. It absorbed much of the dark, animistic Bon Po religion of primitive Tibet and swarms with demons and fiercely copulating gods. The world is haunted by such specters as the ro-langs, or standing dead. They walk with their eyes closed, never change direction, and their touch is fatal to human beings. There are mountain demons who suck the life from unwary travelers, demons who cause hailstorms and earthquakes and eclipses. The Tibetan Buddhist contemplates an intricate pantheon, from the five Dhyani-Buddhas, who share the guardianship of the world, to hosts of spirits. Yet, writes Tibetan Scholar Maurice Percheron: "All, from the Dhyani-Buddhas to the vilest ghost, are nothing but the sparklings of a single diamond . . . only Enlightenment allows one to perceive the unity that underlies all this diversity." This is the faith that reigns supreme in Tibet.

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