That’s Not What I Heard: Reframing the Audience of the Buddha’s Teachings
Taking refuge in the Sangha in myself, I aspire to help all people build Fourfold Communities, to embrace all beings and support their transformation.
- “Chanting From the Heart: Buddhist Ceremonies and Daily Practices” (2007) by Thich Nhat Hanh
The above is on page 22 from the Contemporary Sayings section in our service book. But I must admit that I had no idea what the “Fourfold Communities” was referring to. I know the Three Treasures, the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. There are so many numbered lists in Buddhism that perhaps I had simply overlooked this one. So, I had to investigate before someone asked me what this meant. “I don’t know” is not a great response from a minister.
It turns out that this phrase refers to the four groups of Buddhist followers that have existed since the Buddha’s time. There were the male monastics and the female monastics and the male and female householders. Giving us four distinct communities, each with their own set of concerns. When the Buddha taught, he would focus his teachings to address the needs of these different groups.
However, this can sometimes lead to confusion. For example, when I was reading the book Buddha-Dharma: The Way to Enlightenment, the Buddha often seemed to contradict himself. For example, on one page he stated that the most important practice was to follow the precepts. This surprised me, since even during ordination, Shin ministers do not take the precepts. But then about ten pages later the Buddha said that the most important practice is listening. This left me wondering: which is it – precepts or listening?
It took me some time to figure out where this contradiction was coming from. I thought perhaps I had misread these two passages. But on further review, I realized that when the Buddha promoted the precepts as most important, he was speaking to a monastic audience and listening as most important to a householder audience. Now these two different teachings made sense to me.
This disparity in teachings leads to another point worth exploring: representation in Buddhist texts. It is very important to remember, as ...
“Bhikkhu Bodhi [has] pointed out that while many of the Buddha’s teachings were given to monastics, many of them were not — they were given to “regular people,” who were married and had children, etc. — and that it’s important to know who the Buddha was talking to when we try to understand these teachings.”
From his book, In the Buddha’s Words, Bhikkhu Bodhi again reminds us that ...
“Far from demanding that his lay disciples spurn the desires of the world, the Buddha was ready to show those still under the sway of worldly desire how to obtain the objects of their desire. The one requirement he laid down was that the fulfillment of desire be regulated by ethical principles.”
Buddhist sutras often begin with the phrase “Thus, I have heard” but since the male monastic community was mainly responsible for composing these texts, we usually only hear the teachings for male monastics. This skews our appreciation of the Buddhist teachings. Thus, both householders and women monastics, in general, are underrepresented in the texts. This is often characterized as a result of male patriarchy, but I believe that framing is too simplistic.
Instead, I think each group heard the teachings that were customized for them. The problem is that 3/4 of these teachings may have been given to audiences that were not involved in composing Buddhist texts. But if you look carefully, you can find great female disciples and amazing householders on the path.
For example, the very sincere and devoted married couple of Nakulapita and Nakulamata who practiced Buddhism hand in hand.
If we look closely, we can see that Buddhism has always been available to ordinary, everyday people. Through this lens we can see more clearly how general Buddhism flows effortlessly into Shin Buddhism. There is now no abrupt shift between the two. It is a continuous path for all householders and genders alike through listening alone.
Namoamidabutsu, Rev Jon Turner
