Chapter 4.1. Founded by Siddhartha Gautama Born 566 BCE High Caste Family Mother dreamed that...
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Transcript of Chapter 4.1. Founded by Siddhartha Gautama Born 566 BCE High Caste Family Mother dreamed that...
Chapter 4.1
Founded by Siddhartha Gautama Born 566 BCE High Caste Family Mother dreamed that radiant white
elephant descended to her from heaven and predicted that a boy would someday become a wandering holy man.
To stop this, kept boy in palace surrounded by luxury.
Prince married beautiful woman, had a son, and enjoyed a happy life.
Gautama rode beyond gardens and saw a sick person, an old person, and a dead body
Aware of human suffering for 1st time
Said goodbye to wife, child, palace and went into exile
Wanted to discover “realm of life where there is neither suffering nor death”
Wandered for years Sought answers from Hindu
holy men Fasted and Meditated Sat under a giant tree and
meditated until he understood the mystery of life
48 days- spirits tempted him to give up his meditation
Suddenly he understood the cause and cure for suffering
When he got up from the tree, he was “Buddha” which means the Enlightened One
Taught others what he had learned 1. Life is full of
suffering, pain 2. Cause of suffering is
desire for riches, power 3. Cure for suffering is
to overcome desire 4. Overcome desire by
following 8-fold path
1. Right views2. Right actions3. Right speech4. Right conduct5. Right livelihood6. Right effort7. Right mindfulness8. Right
contemplation
Understanding 4 noble truths, committing self to 8-fold path
Avoid evil words and actions
Through meditation, achieve enlightenment
Final goal is Nirvana Union with the universe and
release from cycle of rebirth 8-fold path is middle way
between life devoted to pleasure and one based on self denial
Honesty, charity, kindness to all living creatures
Buddhism grew from same traditions of Hinduism
THE SAME DIFFERENT Stress
nonviolence Believe in
karma, dharma, moksha, cycle of rebirth
Rejects priests, rituals and gods of Hinduism Urges people to
seek own enlightenment through meditation
Rejects caste system Hope of nirvana to
all
Attracted many followers Set up monasteries,
convents for meditation, study Centers of learning
Buddha’s Death: Age 80 Ate spoiled food “Decay is inherent in all
things. Work out your own salvation with diligence.”
After death of Buddha, followers collected teachings into text Tripitaka “Three Baskets of
Wisdom” “Let a man, after he has
discerned his own duty, be always attentive to his duty”
Golden Rule: “Overcome anger by not growing angry, overcome evil with good, overcome the liar with truth.”
Missionaries and traders spread Buddhism across India and Asia
Split into 2 sects Theravada Buddhism
Closely followed Buddha Life of spiritual work Only most dedicated monks could achieve
nirvana Sri Lanka, SE Asia
Mahayana Buddhism Easier for ordinary people Pictured Buddha as a God China, Tibet, Japan, Korea
Buddhism took root across Asia
Slowly declined in India Hinduism absorbed
Buddhist ideas Made room for
Buddha as another Hindu God
Buddhist centers that survived fell to invading Muslim armies in 1100s