Buddhism Huston Smith I

1. Buddhist Texts are exceptionally difficult to comprehend due to their vague and morphing history. Similar to the Bible, the first buddhist texts weren't written until at least 150 years after the death of the Buddha. During this time, the morals and stories of the buddha were passed through oral traditions and could have quite possibly been changed or lost. These stories were influenced heavily by ancient traditions as well and by the time a solid text came to fruition, it had been the subject of several cultural biases. Also, the Buddha was not the most verbal of leaders, often refraining from long lecture style lessons and mostly just leading by example. The lack of writing and general language from the buddha also contributes to the difficulties in comprehending the texts.

2. Nirvana is the liberation of the soul from the limitations of the physical and impermanent world. This is the overall end-goal in buddhism. The farthest extent to which we can imagine nirvana is as a state of being that is permanent, stable, and peaceful, however this is still just a figment of the imagination. For one, we can not understand something we have never experienced, it's essentially like trying to explain what death is like. Secondly, Nirvana is a release from the impermanent world. Given that we operate solely in this impermanence, it is impossible to comprehend the permanence of nirvana.

3. Annata is the anti-soul concept in buddhism. Buddhists believe that everything has a certain essence which is the accumulation of causes and effects throughout the history of the universe that have lead to its existence in time and space. This intricately interconnected system of beings is certainly a metaphysical concept in buddhism for it carries with it a magic of unity in the universe, but it does not constitute an everliving and transcendent soul in the typical western style of thought.

4. Karma in buddhism refers to the aforementioned system of cause and effect. This causation theory states that every action has a cause, and an effect, all directing the path of destiny. This concept is confusing for although there is a CAUSE for every action, all action is random and determined by the actor. This causality in buddhism essentially states that everything one does is important because it will have an effect on the future, even thousands of years down the line, and everything one does is controlled by the individual, meaning one can control their impact on the future. This impact on future generations is the transmigrating essence of the person (not a soul, but a lasting impact on the world).

5. The belaboring of Annica served to devalorize the idea of a transmigrating soul. As mentioned before, buddhism has no such concept for it is seen as limiting and confined to interpretations in the impermanent world.

6. It is impossible to describe the afterlife in buddhism, just as it is impossible to describe nirvana. Once one exits this world of impermanence through nirvana and then eventually death, they are forever disconnected from the happenings of this world. Again, given that we operate and think in this world of impermanence, it is impossible for us to comprehend the states of permanence such as nirvana or the afterlife.