Mainstream Buddhism's Reinforcement Of Social Norms

Buddhism emerged in South Asia as a revolutionary religion which overturned the predominant Vedic beliefs about class, gender, family structure and political power. However, like many religions, the practice of Buddhism is not solely rooted in its initial theory. As Buddhism was adopted into society, new followers brought their own values into their practice, therefore transforming and adapting Buddhism to the prevailing social order. As a result, this transformation created gaps between theoretical Buddhism’s overturning of social norms and practical Buddhism’s reinforcement of social norms. Mainstream Buddhist beliefs challenge the social structures of its surrounding society; however the society adapts Buddhism in different ways, resulting

During the life of the Buddha, and the early formation of Buddhism, the dominant religion in South Asia was a Brahmanical and Vedic religion, the root of modern Hinduism, which held beliefs in a strict social caste system. The Brahmanical tradition holds that each of the four castes comes from a different part of the god Brahma’s body, one’s caste dictates their duty and place in society and creates a rigid social order based on birth (Norton 93). The Buddha directly rejects this creation story and caste system in the Agganna Sutta, when he tells two new converts that “anyone from the four castes who becomes a monk, an Arahant who has destroyed the corruptions . . . and become emancipated through superknowledge—he is proclaimed supreme by virtue of Dhamma” (94-95). In Buddhism, one’s ability to follow the path to enlightenment is not limited by one’s birth, no matter one’s status in society a person has the capacity to follow the word of the Buddha and reach liberation from samsara. The status of a given person at birth reflects their deeds and religious devotion from past lives, but this does not prevent anyone from being able to move forward towards enlightenment in their current or future lives. Buddhism bases one’s birth on the theory of karma, which is continually changing with each action done by a person, which creates an incentive for positive action. The malleable nature of karma gives people the freedom to move up and down in the social hierarchy instead of being stuck in whichever position they were born into. For more religious devotees or people who are further along the path to enlightenment, karma serves as a vehicle to come closer to enlightenment in a future life. However, for the less enlightened it is more difficult to fathom the attainment of liberation in a successive life, so karma