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"altruism" in Buddhism?
genkaku
Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
I guess that because selfishness/greed is so easy and so prevalent, "altruism" takes on an additional shine, even in Buddhism.
But the word "altruism" is founded in the Latin word "alter," meaning "other."
My understanding is that Buddhism does not lean on or even credit an "other." Buddhism is not two ... and neither is it one. For example, separating the worldly from the enlightened doesn't pan out in Buddhist practice/understanding.
Does altruism, which any of us might see as good stuff, have an honest home in Buddhism?
I doubt it, but I also doubt myself.
What do you think?
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i think altruism is quite prevalent in Buddhism. not only it, but other skillful qualities are also highlighted, specially with 8FP having a right with all the 8 factors. So Therevada Buddhism has a much focus on it as in it there is a way which leads from Samsara to Nirvana. Though in Zen, altruism is not much focussed, as it focusses on just being in right here, right now, as Dogen taught Enlightenment-practice as one word - in other words, there is no enlightenment outside practice and there is no practice outside enlightenment.
"Arahants, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas", by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, strives to an interesting conclusion.
Though professing that in his final analysis, he is unable to provide "...a perfectly cogent solution to this problem", a workable compromise of sorts may have been reached in the statement that "True Buddhism needs all three: Buddhas, arahants, and bodhisattvas".
From "Part IX - Towards a healthy integration of the vehicles":
In my own view, both paths (or vehicles) — the arahant path and the bodhisattva path — can be seen as valid expressions of the Buddha's teaching. However, they must both conform to certain formal criteria. In matters of principle, they must conform to such teachings as the four noble truths, the three characteristics, and dependent origination; and in matters of practice, they must embody wholesome ethics and follow the scheme of the threefold training in morality, concentration, and wisdom. Nevertheless, even when these criteria are fulfilled, we must further avoid any type of syncretism that leads to the denigration of the original teachings of the historical Buddha, regarding them as mere expedients or adaptations to the Indian religious climate of his age rendered irrelevant by teachings arisen at a later period. The kind of tolerance that is needed is one that respects the authenticity of Early Buddhism so far as we can determine its nature from the oldest historical records, yet can also recognize the capacity of Buddhism to undergo genuine historical transformations that bring to manifestation hidden potentials of the ancient teaching, transformations not necessarily preordained to arise from the early teaching but which nevertheless enrich the tradition springing from the Buddha as its fountainhead.
When we adopt this approach, we can truly venerate those practitioners who work diligently to realize the final goal of the Dhamma here and now, to reach nibbāna, the extinction of suffering, by following the noble eightfold path to its very end. We can venerate those who glorify the teaching by showing that it truly leads to ultimate liberation, to the plunge into the unborn and unconditioned state, the deathless element, which the Buddha so often extolled, calling it the wonderful and marvelous, the peaceful purity, the unsurpassed liberation. Again, by taking this approach, we can also venerate those who vow to follow the compassionate route of the bodhisattva, and who make this vow as an act of supererogation, not because it is a necessary condition for their own true deliverance. We can revere and cherish their loving-kindness, their great compassion, their lofty aspirations, and their self-sacrificial service to the world. True Buddhism needs all three: Buddhas, arahants, and bodhisattvas. It needs Buddhas to discover and teach the path to liberation; it needs arahants to follow the path and confirm that the Dharma does indeed lead to liberation, adorning the teaching with examples of those who lead the purest holy life; it needs bodhisattvas to bring forth the resolve to perfect those qualities that will enable them at some point in the future, near or distant, to become Buddhas themselves and once again turn the unsurpassed Wheel of the Dharma.
Altruism, or altruistic practices have a very important place, especially in Tibetan Buddhism.
In most Tibetan schools, Bodhicitta development is more highlighted than the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.
Other schools of Buddhism seem to emphasize working on oneself first, and only then, as we open up the ratio of our navel through the realization that suffering is universal and widespread, begin with practices on compassion and loving-kindness.
@genkaku
Altruism is as accurate a description of Buddhism's compass heading
as
calling Buddhism the journey from self obsession to selflessness.
I see it as synonymous with the Buddha's path towards suffering's cessation..
Think you find a lot of altruism in Buddhism. On the relative side of the question it's right at home. If you choose to focus on the absolute truth of it, the notion of threefold purity enters (no gift, no giver, no recipient), then yes, altruism has no home. Not by exclusion, though. Altruism simply wouldn't arise.
Yes.
I am surprised you ask. Perhaps you are getting at the idea that others are manifestations of our own suffering, so in a sense everything is the Self?
Or maybe you are describing it in this sense:
On a conventional level yes, however ultimately your guess is as good as mine...
according to my understanding so far, altruism is another word for compassion
How could it NOT? Altruism is a natural human capacity. The Buddha's message tells us humans to know ourselves entirely, to exploit our native 'goodness' in the long journey to the cessation of suffering.
This may just be my personal take, but so far I have yet to see a single teensy aspect, however fleeting, of the human experience be NOT addressed in the Buddha's message. Well, he didn't say much about climate change but he did discourage fouling our own nest . . .
>
I think you may have misinterpreted the original meaning of the word 'other'.
The original Latin word, is 'Alter' which actually means AN other... but the italian word for 'someone else' is 'altrui'. So it's considering an other (person) before considering ourselves.
I countered that if there are no actual expectations of reward then said reward wouldn't take away from an altruistic act.
I still don't really know which of us was right.
I suspect determining who was right would require space sharing on the head of that pin with all those other dancing angels.
during the last night meditation, (working on investigating Dhamma) there is the following realization:
unless we are mindful that whatever comes to "us" through our six sense doors (this is 'our' world) is impermanent, suffering, and no-self we have selfishness/greed because selfishness/greed is an inherent quality within us
for ex:
if there is an agreeable thing comes we 'like' to have it
if there is a not-agreeable thing comes we 'like' not to have it
our 'likeness' is there because we think there is a 'thing/a living being'
but if there is mindfulness that whatever 'we' confront is consists of four elements and the name we give to it comes within the mind,
the four element always changing so it is impermanent,
the name has 'nothing' but it is a 'thought' of the mind so there is no-self,
then
there is no 'like' to have it, or no 'like' not to have it,
so 'let go' of it or renunciation happens
mind settles within and mind is skillful and there is no suffering (this is the inactive part for developing skillfulness)
to develop this skillfulness of the mind "altruism" (compassion) has a role (this is the active part for developing skillfulness)
your thoughts
thanks
Trying to give them up . . .
I would suggest altruism is also when we treat ourselves or our selves as part of 'the other' that @federica mentions. In other words it is being objectively skilful and means understanding ourself reflected in others and others as reflections of self . . .
When you realise this, the world is your lobster . . . or at least your dharma playground . . .
Hope that is useful
Bliss surpasses all understanding. In other words you don't deserve it and it doesn't matter. You can't talk yourself out of it.
What is a blessing?
We are to hard on ourselfs
Re original question:
"Does altruism, which any of us might see as good stuff, have an honest home in Buddhism?"
Yes. We call that "Mahayana." It means universal service. For more information, see Wikipedia. That is the real answer to your question. And I think there are a couple hundred million Mahayana Buddhists. Just so you know.
acharya, Mahayana guru
"Benefiting all beings is central to the Buddhist tradition."
-- The Seventeenth Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje, 23 Feb 2000
"The vision I see is not only a movement of direct democracy, of self- and co-determination and non-violence, but a movement in which politics means the power to love and the power to feel united on the spaceship Earth... In a world struggling in violence and dishonesty, the further development of non-violence - not only as a philosophy but as a way of life, as a force on the streets, in the market squares . . . - becomes one of the most urgent priorities."
-- Petra Kelly, Green Movement organizer
"The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or sect, a party or a class. It is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity."
-- Anna Julia Stewart
"I believe in the brother-and-sisterhood of Man."
-- Malcolm X
grabs popcorn and a beanbag
@dhammachick, The matinee is over. Repeat performance not scheduled.
Popcorn is greatly over-rated and over-priced, to my mind....
I see the great altruist, Buddhist Doc and saviour of dharma has been returned to the void. Such people are extreme examples of 'how not to think' - on that level a lot can be gained.
However for their own good a removal service is also an excellent option.
Bravo @federica