Buddhism

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Buddhism

• Alan D. DeSantis

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Introduction

• Buddhism was started by a man named Siddhartha
  Gautama (563-483 B.C.) in India
• He was a Hindu
• Siddhartha was a social reformer of sorts
• He taught that anybody might achieve higher
  enlightenment
• Buddhism, with about 708 million adherents, is
  the fourth-largest religion in the world

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Buddhas Life

• Siddhartha's father was the ruler of the city of
  Patliputra.
• Under strict instruction of his father,
  Siddhartha was never exposed to suffering or pain
  
• At the age of 29, he came across what has become
  known as the Four Passing Sights
• He decided to abandon his worldly life, leaving
  behind his privileges, rank, caste, and his wife
  and child

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Buddhas Life

• He decided that if he continued on his path of
  poverty, he would die without reaching any
  understanding
• After six years, Siddhartha (now 35), sitting
  under a pipal tree, attained Enlightenment and
  became a Buddha.
• For the remaining 45 years of his life, Buddha
  traveled northeastern India, teaching to all
  from nobles to outcaste street sweepers

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The Four Noble Truths

• The Buddha taught that life was inherently
  suffering, that it is caused by craving, but that
  this condition was curable
• 1) Suffering
• 2) The origin of suffering
• 3) The cessation of suffering
• 4) The way leading to the cessation of suffering
  
• Or . . . To put it another way . . .
• 1 Life's a bitch.
• 2 The reason life's a bitch is that people are
  attached to material things.
• 3 Life doesn't always have to be a bitch. You can
  achieve nirvana.
• 4 The way to achieve nirvana is by following the
  eightfold path.

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The Noble Eightfold Path

• The Noble Eightfold Path is a progressive series
  of stages through which the practitioner moves
• 1 Right View - Realizing the Four Noble Truths
• 2 Right Intention - Commitment to mental and
  Ethical growth
• 3 Right Speech - One speaks in a non hurtful, not
  exaggerated, truthful way
• 4 Right Action - Wholesome action, avoiding
  action that would hurt others
• 5 Right Livelihood - One's job does not harm in
  any way oneself or others directly or indirectly
  (weapon maker, drug dealer, etc.)
• 6 Right Effort - One makes an effort to improve
• 7 Right Mindfulness - Once you've beaten your
  physical self into submission, you have to start
  working on your mental state, seeking the ability
  to think clearly and see things as they really
  are.
• 8 Right Concentration - Focus, focus, focus! (and
  meditate)! The path is only complete when you
  have refined your mind into a state of total
  focus on reality

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Some Important Concepts

• The Middle Path
• The Middle Way or Middle Path is often described
  as the practice of non-extremism a path of
  moderation away from the extremes of
  self-indulgence and opposing self-mortification.
• Meditation
• Meditation helps one's mind become calm,
  tranquil, and luminous.

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Some Important Concepts

• Karma and Reincarnation
• You remember them from Hinduism, right?
• No Caste
• No Gods
• Buddhist denounced god-worship

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Addressing the God Question(from Bhûridatta
Jataka)

• If the creator of the world entireThey call God,
  of every being be the LordWhy does he order such
  misfortuneAnd not create concord? 
• If the creator of the world entireThey call God,
  of every being be the LordWhy prevail deceit,
  lies and ignorance And he such inequity and
  injustice create? 
• If the creator of the world entireThey call God,
  of every being be the Lord Then an evil master
  is he, Knowing what's right did let wrong
  prevail!

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Some Important Concepts

• Nirvana (heaven and hell)
• Nirvana is the end of suffering while you're
  alive, and the end of rebirth after you die.
• Heaven Everything is just the way you want it to
  be. You are ultimately happy.
• Hell In the hell realm, the worst place, you
  find the most suffering.
• One day you might be walking through a forest,
  when all the leaves on a tree turn into razor
  blades and fall, cutting you into a million
  pieces. You cry out in pain, and your hell body
  resurrects, so you can be killed over and over
  again.

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Buddhist scriptures

• Buddhist scriptures and other texts exist in
  great variety. Different schools of Buddhism
  place varying levels of value on them.

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Buddhism Schools the three main

• Today, Buddhism is divided primarily into three
  traditions
• Each branch sees itself as representing a true,
  original teachings of the Buddha
• Just like Christian denominations

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The Theravada school(Southern school)

• The Theravada school bases its practice and
  doctrine exclusively on the Pali Canon.
• Theravada Buddhism are viewed as elitists and
  selfishness

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The Mahayana School

• The biggest and most popular (with many
  off-shoots)
• Emphasizes universal compassion and the selfless
  ideal of the bodhisattva.
• Recognize all the scriptures that were put in
  writing around 1 CE.
• The way of the Mahayana, in contrast to the more
  conservative and austere Theravada school, can be
  characterized by
• Zen Buddhism is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism
• A popular American branch since the 1960s

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The Vajrayana School

• Found primarily in Tibet
• Like Mahayana Buddhism, but with additional
  practices
• These profound states are used as a path to
  Buddhahood

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Vajrayana School
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The End . . .