So far, two themes are of particular interest to me: the story of Siddhartha Gautama’s birth and life, and the idea of “turning inward” to attain enlightenment.

Siddhartha Gautama’s life and times are described in varying degrees of detail in Chapter 1 of Thurman’s Inner Revolution, in Chapter 1 of Powers’s Introduction To Tibetan Buddhism, and in Bodhi's In the Buddha's Own Words. Seeing the same story told by different authors showed me a few things that I did not know before: for one, the specific circumstances of Siddhartha’s life (e.g. his birth, encounters with the four sights, and abandonment of his royalty) are important; for another, there is a narrative history surrounding Siddhartha’s life that is widely agreed upon, right down to the minute details. By examining the commonalities between Thurman’s, Powers’s, and Bodhi's accounts of Siddhartha’s life, I was able to glean the most important details.

One such detail that I found interesting was that the Buddha actually chose Siddhartha as a vessel for his final life because his “era, nation, continent, social class, family, sex, and so on” would allow for “optimal impact” (IR 47). Social class was of great importance to the Buddha in choosing Siddhartha, because abandoning his status would effectively demonstrate the meaninglessness of even the most well-respected position when compared to the “ultimate purpose of human life” (IR 47). Chapter 2 of Bodhi’s In the Buddha’s Own Words provides another account of the life of the Buddha. It employs a somewhat biblical structure, emphasizing in each line that

“I heard and learned this from the Blessed One’s own lips,”

while touching on the same specific details recounted in the aforementioned texts. Specifically, Bodhi references the bodhisattva’s (Siddhartha Gautama’s) speech shortly after his birth, as well as his encounter with Mara. These events are also described by Powers and Thurman.

Bodhi takes care to convey that the history of the Buddha is an oral one, and makes a strong argument as to how this is a benefit rather than a detriment to Buddhism (IBOW 1). One question I have is exactly when, if ever, the ideals and history of Buddhism were written down in an “official” capacity. Do we still consider Buddhism to be an oral history, and do there still exist any persons in the “lineage,” per se, of the transmission who are qualified to transmit the Buddha’s teachings orally?

The idea of turning inward is also emphasized in multiple readings. Particularly, Thurman writes at length about the importance of this practice. He argues that the direction of the turnings of one’s energies (inward vs. outward) has great implications for the society they inhabit. He uses this argument to distinguish Tibet from Western society:

“Unlike in the modern West, where efforts are directed outwardly, toward material progress, in Tibet, energies were directed inwardly, toward progress in the development of an inner universe, toward spiritual progress” (IR 34).

Indeed, Thurman often airs his grievances against Western society’s obsession with materialism. To Thurman, this distinction is what makes Tibet so unique: by placing an emphasis on turning inward, Tibet “cherish[es] the individual’s pursuit of enlightenment over the needs of society” (IR 33). Thurman goes on to elucidate the benefits of a society that emphasizes striving toward personal enlightenment: he makes the claim that enlightenment of an individual automatically enriches a society, because that individual’s enlightenment allows them to devote themselves to helping and teaching others. Therefore, although turning inward may appear to be a selfish endeavor, it is actually the first step toward helping others in a meaningful way, and toward the enrichment of that individual’s society (IR 29).

A downside of Tibet’s emphasis on turning inward is that it has historically been more vulnerable to aggression from outsiders. A country like Tibet is able to reap the benefits of enlightenment at the risk of being militarily weaker (IR 31). It is for this reason that Tibet has experienced inconceivable turmoil at the hands of communist China in the last century (IR 19). This question may not be possible to answer, but I do wonder if the benefits of an enlightened citizenry outweigh the toll of destruction and loss of life.

A brief reflection on chapter X of In the Buddha’s Own Words: I found this section to be less inspiring and a bit more mundane than the other readings. It deals with the four classes of noble disciples in a way that feels almost bureaucratic; it lays out some very specific conditions in which these four classes of disciples can sort of climb the ladder to attain buddhahood. I wonder about the practical significance of these classes, and how we are able to know such specifics as “a stream-enterer has at most seven more births among humans and devas” (IBOW 375). I suppose the natural answer is that this is simply what the Buddha says, but I’d like some more context on this matter.