Buddhism

A. What is Buddhism? Buddhism is a major world religion, founded in northeastern India and based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who is known as the Buddha, or Enlightened One.

B. Buddhism has 360 million followers worldwide.

C. It is the sixth largest world religion.

II. History of Buddhism

A. Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism has a specific founder.

B. The Buddha was born as Siddhartha Gautama around 563 B.C. in northern India.

C. His mother, Queen Maya, and wise men recognized his greatness at conception and birth.

D. Demons attempted to interfere with his coming.

E. Siddhartha was raised in luxury and was the son of a king. He was raised within the traditional context of Hinduism.

F. His father shielded him from bad experiences.

G. Eventually, though, Siddhartha desired to see the outside world that he was sheltered from. He saw four things that affected him deeply:

1. Old man

2. Sick person

3. Corpse

4. Wandering ascetic

H. Seeing these things, Siddhartha could no longer live in luxury. He was compelled to seek the true meaning and understanding of life.

I. At age 29, he left his wife, son, and palace.

J. He sought release from wheel of rebirth.

K. He shaved his head and became a wandering ascetic.

L. Siddhartha met two gurus who attempted to help him. (It didn’t work.)

M. For six years, he practiced yoga and tried extreme asceticism.

1. Ate little

2. Painful bodily positions

3. Held breath for long periods of time.

N. Eventually, he abandoned rigid asceticism and practiced meditation without pain.

O. Sitting under a Bo tree, he attained enlightenment. (remained under the tree 7 weeks) (The Bodhgaya is a temple that commemorates where the Buddha found enlightenment.)

P. He realized that destroying desire would eliminate suffering, leaving him free and enlightened.

Q. Siddhartha adopted a Middle Path between indulgence and self-denial. No more extreme asceticism that Hinduism advocated.

R. The five ascetics with whom he associated became his first disciples. (They were reluctant to accept him at first.)

III. The Buddha’s influence

A. The Buddha was an oral teacher. He left no written writings.

B. No complete biography of the Buddha was written until centuries after his death.

C. The Sangha that he founded became the Buddhist monastic order.

D. Four noble truths At the core of the Buddha’s enlightenment was the realization of the Four Noble Truths.

1. Life is suffering

a) Human existence is painful from birth to death.

b) Even death is no relief, since the Buddha accepted the Hindu idea of the chain of lives (death leads to rebirth and so on).

2. All suffering is caused by cravings and attachments. Our cravings and desires result from ignorance.

3. Suffering can be ended by overcoming cravings and attachments.

4. The way to overcome suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path.

a) Right view

b) Right aim

c) Right speech

d) Right action

e) Right living

f) Right effort

g) Right mindfulness

h) Right concentration

IV. The Absolute of Buddhism

A. The gods

1. The Buddha did not worship a god.

2. The Buddha did not speculate about a first cause or absolute being.

3. He held there were no permanent entities in the universe.

4. He did not denounce belief in gods, but taught that they were not essential.

5. The gods are not creators of the universe nor are they in control of human destiny. In fact, the gods need to be reborn as humans to try to escape the cycle of rebirths.

6. (Some have said that Buddhism borders on atheism more than other major world religions because it is so non-metaphysical in regard to an absolute being.)

B. Nirvana

1. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is the release from suffering.

2. To do this one must achieve Nirvana—an enlightened state in which greed, hatred, and ignorance are done away with (free of egocentrism and the suffering it causes).

3. Nirvana is a state of consciousness beyond definition. It also corresponds with the idea of “extinction.”

4. After attaining Nirvana, a person may live until death at which time a final state of Nirvana is attained.

5. A Bodhisattva is one who reaches enlightenment but refuses to enter final enlightenment so as to help others reach their enlightenment.

6. Nirvana is attainable by anyone, although a more realistic goal for those in a monastic community.

7. Lay Buddhists usually seek a better rebirth through improved karma.

V. Buddhism’s view of the world/universe

A. The Buddhist view of the universe is basically the same as that of Hinduism. The material world is largely illusion. And, instead of a three-tier realm of existence, there are six realms of existence a person can be born into.

1. The Heavens -- The heavens are inhabited by the gods, those who in their previous lives did good and now live lives of pleasure and happiness. Buddhist heavens are not seen as permanent places for the gods who reside there. One day the gods will fall into one of the lower realms and their lives of constant pleasure will come to an end.

2. The Realm of the Titans (or ‘Asuras’) Though powerful, the Titans are not happy. Their jealousy of each other means they are constantly at war.

3. Animals

4. The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts (or 'Pretas’) This realm is inhabited by ghosts who are usually depicted with distended stomachs. They have an insatiable thirst and hunger which can never be quenched. They are so absorbed in this that there is no opportunity for spiritual concerns.

5. The hells The beings that inhabit the hell-worlds suffer immensely and for a very long period. But, as with the Heavens, individuals do not remain there eternally. Once the fruit of their bad deeds have been used up they can ascend to one of the other realms.

6. Human realm – Has most potential for gaining enlightenment. Humans, not gods, are viewed as being in the best position to escape from the cycle of rebirths.

B. The Buddha held that all existence is characterized by:

1. No soul

2. Impermanence

3. Suffering (dukkha)

VI. The Human person in Buddhism

A. Human existence is made of a combination of the following five elements (skandhas):

1. Material body

2. Feelings

3. Perceptions

4. Karmic tendencies

5. Consciousness

B. A person is only a temporary combination of these five things which continually change.

C. No one remains the same for two consecutive moments.

D. Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism denies that there is a permanent soul. This view is called anatta.

E. The Buddha believed in karma.

F. Karma can lead to rebirth as a human, animal, hungry ghost, or one of the Hindu gods.

VII. The human problem in Buddhism

A. The human problem according to Buddhism is similar to the human problem in Hinduism.

B. The human problem is that living beings are caught up in the cycle of rebirths because of cravings and lusts such as greed, hatred, and ignorance.

C. Living beings accumulate karmic debt which hinders a person from attaining enlightenment and escaping from the cycle of rebirths.

D. The Buddha’s main goal was to help people understand suffering.

E. Ignorance was the main reason people remain in suffering.

VIII. The human solution in Buddhism

A. The human solution is similar to Hinduism—moksha—liberation from the cycle of rebirths.

B. The way of achieving moksha according to Buddhism is somewhat different than the approach of Hinduism. Whereas Hinduism often stresses the path of severe asceticism, the Buddha argued for a Middle Path in which a person sought enlightenment between the extremes of asceticism and self-indulgence.

C. Through right living and the pursuit of enlightenment, Buddhists aspire to escape the cycle of rebirths and reach nirvana.

D. One must become enlightened to escape suffering.

IX. Community and ethics of Buddhism

A. The most devoted followers of Buddhism join a monastic community. In this sense, Buddhism is more community-oriented than Hinduism.

1. Shaved heads

2. Orange robes

3. Sleep on floor with one blanket

4. Receive food from the kindness of others

5. Those who act unethically are banished forever from the monastic community and often from society as a whole.

B. Some segments of Buddhism allow for female monastic orders.

C. Buddhists generally adhere to high ethical standards

X. Buddhist interpretation of history Like Hinduism, Buddhism adheres to a cyclical or circular view of history.

XI. Life after death according to Buddhism

A. All living things are subject to reincarnation.

B. After death, a remnant of the person may go and exist in another realm (see V. A. above).

XII. Buddhism and other religions

A. Buddhists are generally tolerant of other religions.

B. Buddhism shares much in common with Hinduism.

C. Buddhism often co-exists peacefully with the religions of Daoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. In fact. It is not uncommon for people in Asian countries to follow elements of these various religions.

XIII. Rituals and symbols

A. The Buddha’s birthday is celebrated in every Buddhist country.

B. Almost everywhere, the central figure of devotion is an image of Buddha.

C. In Mahayana countries, rituals are more important than in Theravada areas.

1. Images of Buddha

2. Prayers and chantings

3. Offerings of fruit, flowers, and incense

D. The wheel of the law (dharma) is a symbolic reminder of the perfect way of release.

E. Devotees repeat the Three Jewels of Buddhism:

1. “I take refuge in Buddha.”

2. “I take refuge in the dharma.”

3. “I take refuge in the sangha” (Buddhist monastic order).

F. Key symbols

1. Wheel with eight spokes

a) Signifies the teaching of the Buddha.

b) Represents the eightfold path

2. Swastika

a) A spiritual sign of spiritual truth and good fortune.

b) Brings together the eightfold path and the four noble truths.

3. Monks are vegetarians; some laypeople are as well.

XIV. Other aspects of Buddhism

A. Buddhist Councils

1. Rajagrha—first council; held immediately after the Buddha’s death. It met to agree upon:

a) The Buddha’s actual teachings

b) Proper monastic discipline

2. Vaishal—second great council (a century later)

a) Addressed monastic practices.

b) Some trace the origin of splits in Buddhism to this council.

3. Pataliputra—third council in 3rd cent. B.C.

a) Purify community from false monks.

b) Compilation of the Buddhist scriptures (Tripitaka) was completed.

4. Differing views of Buddhism led to 18 different schools of Buddhist thought.

B. Buddhist Scriptures

1. For several centuries after the death of Buddha, scriptural traditions were transmitted orally.

2. These traditions were put in writing around the first century.

3. The Buddhist canon is known as Tripitaka which means “Three Baskets.” Tripitaka consists of:

a) Sutta Pitaka (discourses between Buddha and others)

b) Vinaya Pitaka (225 rules of monastic discipline)

c) Abhidharma Pitaka (philosophical and doctrinal classifications)

d) Buddhists consider the Tripitaka to be the remembered words of Siddhartha Gautama.

C. Two major branches of Buddhism

1. Theravada (Way of the Elders)

2. Mahayana (the Great Vehicl