BUDDHISM

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 The Beginnings of Buddhism
• Founded in the late 6th century B.C.E. by Siddhartha Gautama (the
"Buddha"), is an important religion in most of the countries of Asia.

• Buddhism has assumed many different forms, but in each case there has
been an attempt to draw from the life experiences of the Buddha, his
teachings, and the "spirit" or "essence" of his teachings (called dhamma
or dharma) as models for the religious life.

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 The Buddha
• Siddhartha Gautama, who later became known as
“The Buddha,” lived during the 5th century B.C.
Gautama was born into a wealthy family as a prince
in present-day Nepal.
• Although he had an easy life, Gautama was moved
by suffering in the world. He decided to give up his
lavish lifestyle and endure poverty

• He saw the more severe forms of human suffering: old age, illness, and
death (a corpse), as well as an ascetic renouncer.

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 The Buddha
• The contrast between his life and this human suffering made him realize that all
the pleasures on earth where in fact transitory, and could only mask human
suffering.
• Leaving his wife—and new son ("Rahula"—fetter) he took on several teachers
and tried severe renunciation in the forest until the point of near-starvation,
realizing that this too was only adding more suffering, he ate food and sat down
beneath a tree to meditate.
• He had attained Nirvana (Enlightenment), which provided both the true answers
to the causes of suffering and permanent release from it.

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 The Beginnings of Buddhism
• When Gautama passed away around 483 B.C., his
followers began to organize a religious movement.
Buddha’s teachings became the foundation for what
would develop into Buddhism.

• In the 3rd century B.C., Ashoka the Great, the Mauryan

Indian emperor, made Buddhism the state religion of
India. Buddhist monasteries were built, and missionary
work was encouraged

• Over the next few centuries, Buddhism began to spread beyond India. The thoughts and
philosophies of Buddhists became diverse, with some followers interpreting ideas
differently than others.

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 The Beginnings of Buddhism
• In the sixth century, the Huns invaded India and destroyed hundreds of Buddhist
monasteries, but the intruders were eventually driven out of the country.

• Islam began to spread quickly in the region during the Middle Ages, forcing
Buddhism into the background.

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 The Basic Teachings of Buddhism
Buddha’s teachings are known as “dharma.” He taught that wisdom,
kindness, patience, generosity and compassion were important virtues.

• Specifically, all Buddhists live by five moral precepts, which prohibit:

• Killing living things
• Taking what is not given
• Sexual misconduct
• Lying
• Using drugs or alcohol

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 The Basic Teachings of Buddhism
The three marks of existence are Buddhism’s basic description of reality. These three
simple truths, which characterize all things:
• Impermance (Pali: annica): This truth is the foundation of Buddhism. The
Buddha said that all compounded phenomena disintegrate. All things are made of
parts, and all things fall apart. Another, blunter, way to put it is that everything dies.
All of samsara is an attempt to deny this reality.

• Suffering (dukkha): Every experience is marked by some quality of suffering,

whether it’s extreme pain or a background sense of unease. As long as we struggle to
maintain a sense of solid self, our lives will be marked by stress and fear. Our
struggle will always be unsuccessful because of…

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 The Basic Teachings of Buddhism
• Non-Self: (annata): There is no solid, separate, single self. We have no core. We
are simply the product of multiple causes and conditions. Impermanence describes
how things are; non-self describes what they are not. Or, as Thich Nhat Hanh puts it,
impermanence is emptiness in terms of time; non-self is emptiness in terms of space.

To these three, some teachers add a fourth: nirvana. This describes the absolute state free
of all dualism. It marks all things because relative phenomena are not separate from the
complete peace of the absolute.

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 The Three Jewels
The ideals at the heart of Buddhism are
collectively known as the ‘Three Jewels’, or the
‘Three Treasures’.
1. Buddha (the yellow jewel),
2. the Dharma (the blue jewel),
3. the Sangha (the red jewel)

It is by making these the central principles of

your life that you become a Buddhist.

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 The Four Noble Truths

1. The truth of suffering (Dukkha)

2. The truth of the origin of suffering (Samudāya)
3. The truth of the cessation of suffering (Nirodha)
4. The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (Magga)

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 The Four Noble Truths
1. Suffering (Dukkha)
Suffering exists: Life is suffering. Suffering is real and almost universal.
Suffering has many causes: loss, sickness, pain, failure, and the impermanence of
pleasure.

2. Origin of suffering (Samudāya)

There is a cause of suffering. Suffering is due to attachment. It is the desire to
have and control things. It can take many forms: craving of sensual pleasures; the
desire for fame; the desire to avoid unpleasant sensations, like fear, anger or
jealousy.

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 The Four Noble Truths

3. Cessation of suffering (Nirodha)

There is an end to suffering. Attachment can be overcome. Suffering ceases with

the final liberation of Nirvana (Nibbana). The mind experiences complete
freedom, liberation and non-attachment. It lets go of any desire or craving.

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 The Four Noble Truths

4. Path to the cessation of suffering (Magga)

In order to end suffering, you must follow the Eightfold Path.

• The Eightfold Path is also called the Middle Way: it avoids both indulgence
and severe asceticism, neither of which the Buddha had found helpful in his
search for enlightenment.

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 The Noble Eightfold Paths
1. Right Understanding - Sammā ditthi
Accepting Buddhist teachings. (The Buddha never intended his followers to
believe his teachings blindly, but to practise them and judge for themselves
whether they were true.)

2. Right Intention - Sammā san̄ kappa

A commitment to cultivate the right attitudes.
3. Right Speech - Sammā vācā
Speaking truthfully, avoiding slander, gossip and abusive speech.

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 The Noble Eightfold Paths
4. Right Action - Sammā kammanta
Behaving peacefully and harmoniously; refraining from stealing, killing and
overindulgence in sensual pleasure.

5. Right Livelihood - Sammā ājīva

Avoiding making a living in ways that cause harm, such as exploiting people or
killing animals, or trading in intoxicants or weapons.

6. Right Effort - Sammā vāyāma

Cultivating positive states of mind; freeing oneself from evil and unwholesome
states and preventing them arising in future.

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 The Noble Eightfold Paths
7. Right Mindfulness - Sammā sati
Developing awareness of the body, sensations, feelings and states of mind.

8. Right Concentration - Sammā samādhi

Developing the mental focus necessary for this awareness.

• The eight stages can be grouped into Wisdom (right understanding and intention), Ethical Conduct
(right speech, action and livelihood) and Meditation (right effort, mindfulness and concentration).
• The Buddha described the Eightfold Path as a means to enlightenment, like a raft for crossing a river.
Once one has reached the opposite shore, one no longer needs the raft and can leave it behind.

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 The Relevance of Buddhism to the Modern Life
and Life in General

• Buddhist science deals with psychology; it is a very deep analysis of how the
mind works, how the emotions work, and how perception works.

• Buddhist philosophy deals with reality – how we understand reality and how we
deconstruct our fantasies and projections about reality.

• Buddhism as a religion is, of course, talking about overcoming problems in

future lifetimes, gaining liberation from rebirth, and becoming an enlightened
Buddha.

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 Buddhist Holy Book

Buddhists revere many sacred texts and scriptures. Some of the most important
are:

Tipitaka: These texts, known as the “three baskets,” are thought to be the earliest
collection of Buddhist writings.
Sutras: There are more than 2,000 sutras, which are sacred teachings embraced
mainly by Mahayana Buddhists.
The Book of the Dead: This Tibetan text describes the stages of death in detail.

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 Dalai Lama
• The Dalai Lama is the leading monk in Tibetan Buddhism.
Followers of the religion believe the Dalai Lama is a
reincarnation of a past lama that has agreed to be born again
to help humanity. There have been 14 Dalai Lamas
throughout history.

• The Dalai Lama also governed Tibet until the Chinese took
control in 1959. The current Dalai Lama, Lhamo Thondup,
was born in 1935.

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 Appreciative Analysis of Hinduism and Buddhism

• The concept of karma – Both religions adhere to karma, which implies that
every action results in a reaction. In other words, it is a term used to describe
the cycle of cause and effect that exists in these two religions.

• The idea of reincarnation – It is believed that the idea of reincarnation

originated in ancient India and that it greatly influenced later religions that
developed in the country. The soul is eternal, but the body goes through a
process of birth, life, decay, old age and eventually death.

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 Appreciative Analysis of Hinduism and Buddhism

• Desire is suffering – Hinduism and eventually Buddhism teaches that desire

leads to suffering and the removal of desire leads to a cessation of suffering.

• Cosmology and worldview – Both religions share the concept of multiple

heavens and hells. Mount Meru (mythological concept of a central world
mountain) is also central to both religions. In addition, entities such as nagas
(serpent deities), devas (demigods), asuras (demons) and apsaras (female cloud
and water spirits) are accepted in Buddhism (but not worshipped as gods
however).

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 Appreciative Analysis of Hinduism and Buddhism

• Meditation, yoga and spiritual enlightenment – Both religions believe in

several spiritual practices in attempts to get beyond the thinking mind and into a
state of relaxation and awareness.

• Rites and rituals – Both Hinduism and Buddhism share several common
practices such as homa (making offerings into a consecrated fire), ancestor
worship and prayers for the deceased.

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 Quotes Commonly Attributed to Buddha

“If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart“

“The root of suffering is attachment.“

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 “Hatred does not cease through hatred
at any time. Hatred ceases through love.
This is an unalterable law.“

Thank you and God bless!

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