Buddhism
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Transcript of Buddhism
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BuddhismAn introductory exploration
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Blue: Loving kindness, peace and universal compassion
Yellow: The Middle Path - avoiding extremes, emptiness
Red: The blessings of practice - achievement, wisdom, virtue, fortune and dignity
White: The purity of Dharma - leading to liberation, outside of time or space
Orange: The Buddha's teachings - wisdom
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Simple Facts of Buddhism
• Flag of Buddhism • World population: ~350 million
believers worldwide• Theraveda Buddhist Scriptures: Pali Canon
(Tipitaka)• Geographical divisions of Buddhism share
original teachings of Buddha, but have developed into three distinctions within Buddhism:– Theraveda Buddhism
• oldest surviving– Mahayana Buddhism
• dominant Buddhist school, ~150 million• East Asian Buddhism• Tibetian Buddhism
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Outline of Buddhism
• Pali Canon (Tipitaka): – Vinaya Pitaka: dealing with rules for monks and
nuns – Sutta Pitaka: discourses, mostly ascribed to the
Buddha, but some to disciples – Abhidhamma Pitaka: variously described as
philosophy, psychology, metaphysics.
• Pali Canon is the scripture collection of the Theraveda Buddhist tradition.
• Pali is the language– Pitaka means basket
• tipitaka means three basket
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Outline of Buddhism
• Bodhi – to attain enlightenment or awakening, release from suffering by following the teachings of Buddha.
• The Middle Way - The primary guiding principle of Buddhism. Discovered by the Buddha prior to his enlightenment (bodhi).
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Outline of Buddhism
• Refuge in the Three Jewels– three things that Buddhists give themselves to,
and in return look toward for guidance, in the process known as taking refuge.
• Buddha – example of Buddha– Or more loosely, the wisdom that understands Dharma, and
in this regard the Buddha represents the perfect wisdom that sees reality in its true form
• Dharma – teachings/laws as expounded by Buddha
• Sangha – community of those who will help others attain bodhi (enlightenment).
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Outline of Buddhism
Four Noble Truths – There is suffering (dakkha)
– There is a cause of suffering — (tanha –
selfish craving/desire)
– There is the cessation of suffering (hope, belief)
– There is a way leading to the cessation of suffering — the Noble Eightfold Path
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Outline of Buddhism
• Noble Eightfold Path – path to an end of suffering
– Divided into three parts
• Śīla – morality, which concerns wholesome physical actions
• Samadhi – developing mastery over one’s mind, meditation and concentration of the mind
• Prajñā - concerns spiritual insight into the true nature of all things, which is wisdom that purifies the mind
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Life of Gautama
• Born: ~ 563 BC in Lumbini, northern India• Born to a king• Born with special markings (32 signs of a Great
Man)– Mother (Queen Maya) dreamt of a white elephant
entering her side and she became pregnant – The White Elephant was the Buddha-to-be, resided
as an ‘enlightened existence’ in one of the six deva-heavens
– Soothsayer: Gautama will be either a great king or a great holy man
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Father – wanted Gautama to become a great king– Protected Gautama from the ugliness,
suffering of the world by keeping him in the castle
– Enticed and tempted Gautama with pleasurable things of the world
– As Gautama got older he begged to go out of the castle to see the world
– Father swept the outside world of all ugliness in order to protect his son from seeing suffering
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Four Sights• Age 29, Gautama goes on four trips out of the castle
and sees four sights that change his worldview
– Old man – suffering– Sick man – disease– Dead man – death– Ascetic man – quest for Truth, release from suffering
• Deeply depressed Gautama escapes the castle in the night to seek deeper meaning of life.
• THE GREAT GOING FORTH– His spiritual quest begins, exchanges rich clothes for
simple clothes and becomes a mendicant ascetic.
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Wandering Ascetic
• Asceticism believed to be a powerful practice to overcome weakness of body.
• Asceticism seeks moksha by overcoming the weakness of the body.
• Pleasure is bad– Extreme fasting– Holding one’s breath– Exposure to bodily pain
• Gautama nearly starves himself to death without getting any closer to enlightenment
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Middle Way• Gautama realized, after nearly dying, that
asceticism is actually counter productive.
– Self-hating practices that brought little spiritual benefit
– One becomes stuck on self while the goal is to transcend one’s self.
• Middle Way is a way of proceeding that exercises moderation between self-indulgence and self-mortification
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Fig Tree
• Revived from near-death by young girl, dedicates himself to meditation.
– Mindfulness of breathing to purify oneself of defilements and as a way to nirvana
• Lotus position under fig tree, vows not to leave until he found “complete and perfect fulfillment” (Brodd, 72).
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Battle with Mara• Mara
– psychological darkness within each of us to make our own worst fears real
– Literal belief that Mara was a demon
• 3 Lusty Daughters of Mara– Delight– Desire– Discontent
• Was neither attracted nor disgusted by these three things• They remained powerless over Gautama
• Defeated Mara, Gautama enters deeply into an inward spiritual journey
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Three Watches under the Fig Tree
• First Watch – “Gautama perceived his own previous lifetimes…[his] continuous journey of suffering” (Brodd, 73) .
• Second Watch – “acquired the divine eye, the ability to perceive the deaths/rebirths of all living things” (Brodd, 73) .
• Third Watch – Discovers Four Noble Truths– With this Gautama attained enlightenment –
reached spiritual perfection and had thus won his salvation
– Became the Awakened or Enlightened One
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Deferred Nirvana
• Nirvana– State of non-physical eternal bliss that is
ultimate salvation
• Buddha resists the temptation to pass into Nirvana– His compassion compels him to stay to teach
others the lessons of his spiritual journey