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Is the Dharma Deteriorating or Improving?
person
Don't believe everything you thinkThe liminal space Veteran
"So it happens Kassapa, when beings deteriorate and the true Dhamma vanishes: then there are more rules and fewer Arahanths. There will be, however, no vanishing of the Dhamma until a sham Dhamma arises in the world. But when a sham Dhamma arises in the world, there will be more rules and fewer Arahanths."The old world view is that the Dharma from the Buddha is a pure teaching and that over time it will slowly decay and weaken until it dissapears.
"But Kassapa, it is not a cataclysm of the four elements - earth, water, fire and air that make the Dhamma disappear. Nor is the reason for its disappearance similar to the overloading of a ship that causes it to sink. It is rather the presence of five detrimental attitudes that causes the obscuration and disappearance of the Dhamma."
"These are the five: It is the lack of respect and regard for the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, the training, and for meditative concentration on the part of monks, nuns, and male and female devotees. But so long as there is respect and regard for these five things the Dhamma will remain free of obscuration and will not disappear."
-- (Gotama Buddha - Samyutta Nikya)
In the west, since the enlightenment, the view of knowledge and ideas is that they are constantly being refined and improved. Is this the case with the Dharma as well?
In my opinion, overall, it is in decay. My reason for this is that I believe the Buddha had a direct realization and understanding which he then taught from his own experience. He didn't come up with a brilliant idea which is open to further development and refinement like a purely intellectual pursuit would be.
The nature of Buddha's enlightenment is debated so I think the opening question is also subject to differing views.
There is also the case of cultural adaptation and I haven't really tried to think through any impact there. Nor do I see it as a steady decline there are low periods and periods of renewal. I see the current state of the Dharma in the world as a period of renewal, where various traditions are now comparing notes and figuring out how to best present the teachings to westerners causing them to dig deeper in their understanding than they've had to in the more recent past.
Any thoughts or opinions?
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Comments
The sutras and commentaries could exist for thousands of more years but if no one put them into practice I would consider the Dharma to be dead at that point.
So the part that I view as deteriorating is not the words but the Dharma in people's minds.
I'd say that the application of dharma has obviously changed throughout time, and ours might well be the hardest age - because of all of the distractions we have 24/7 - to apply the seminal tenets of Buddhist practice to our daily lives.
There seems to be no shortage of Buddhist monks especially in asian countries, who dedicate their lives to studying Dharma and then trying to realize it, so I guess Dharma must be continuing to influence their minds into some sort of realization. The same could be said for lay followers, after the initial spark I talk about is lit, something must be happening in their minds, some realization of sorts, that keeps them wanting to know, learn and experience more. So again I think Dharma is alive and kicking in the 21st century, as much as it has been in any other era since Buddhas time.