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BUDDHISM
Interview of Dr Supriya Rai, a practising scholar of Buddhism living in India. Supriya Rai is a Lecturer at the K J Somaiya Centre for Buddhist Studies, Mumbai. Her areas of interest are Buddhist meditation, Central Asian Buddhism, particularly the works of Kumarajiva, and Buddhist Ethics. She is currently working on a comparative study of the Visuddhimagga and the Sravakabhumi section of the Yogacarabhunisastra.
1. Does your religion believe in the soul? If so: a. What does the soul mean? b. Who created the soul? c. Where does the soul come from?
If by soul we mean something that is independent, eternal and has a substantial nature of its own then Buddhism does not accept such a concept. The doctrine of anatta is important in Buddhism and it is understood at various levels: that all phenomena originate dependent upon causes and conditions and as such cannot have an independent self; that the skandhas and indeed any aspect of oneself which one may consider constitutes "self" can be seen to be arising and passing away, in which case the "person” is actually constituted by santana - a continuity or series of arising and ceasing mental and physical complex that is propelled by karma.
Anatta is one of the three marks of all existence; the other being anicca and dukkha. Soteriologically they are understood as follows: there cannot be a self - whatever we consider self or belonging to it only brings dukkha, because it is anicca.
2. Where do people (souls) come from and where do they go when they die?
There being no soul, the Buddhist view is that karma conditions the continuity of the psycho-physical entity in repeated rounds of birth and death.
3. What is your definition of faith? 4. Who has faith? 5. Is it possible to say that one person has more faith than another person? Are there any
visible signs of this?
While doubt is considered a hindrance in Buddhism, too much faith is also not encouraged. Saddha must have its basis in reason and understanding. To embark on the path, one needs faith - in the enlightenment of the Buddha. As the path is cultivated, faith deepens as the fruits of practice become evident. At the first of the four stages on the path to becoming an Arhat, that of stream entry or sotapanna, faith becomes unshakeable.
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