The Beginnings of Buddhism 4-3

1
The Beginnings of Buddhism4-3

• Objectives
• Learn about the Buddha and his teachings.
• Find out how Buddhism was received inside and
  outside India.

2
Siddhartha Gautama

• He was a spiritual teacher from India and the
  historical founder of Buddhism.
• He was born a prince in or close to Nepal.
• He left the palace one day to see much misery,
  and gave up his wealth to find the causes of
  human suffering.
• He prayed, fasted and gave up all of his material
  possessions.

3
What was Gautama searching for?

• He was searching for the cause of suffering and
  understanding.
• To do this he would meditate.
• He could not accept the Hindu belief that only
  priests could pass on knowledge.

4
What did Gautama decide to do?

• He traveled across India and shared his knowledge.

5
meditate

• To focus the mind inward in order to find
  spiritual awareness. See words of meditation

Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum
6
What did Gautamas followers call him?

• His students called him the Buddha or the
  Enlightened One.
• When he was searching for enlightenment, he
  became an ascetic (one who gives up all worldly
  possessions/ pleasures and denies their bodies of
  basic needs.)
• He decided to balance himself between the
  extremes- which is known as the Middle Way.

7
The Four Noble Truths

• The truths found by the Buddha under the tree of
  wisdom are the basis for Buddhism
• They are
• Suffering is present in all things and nothing
  lasts forever
• Suffering is caused by cravings (desires and
  wants)
• The way to end suffering is to give up all
  cravings
• The way to give up all cravings () is to live
  life according to the Eightfold Path

8
The Middle Way (also called the Eightfold Path)

• Right Understanding - Having faith in the
  Buddhist view of the universe
• Right Intension Making a commitment to practice
  Buddhism
• Right Speech Avoiding lies and mean or abusive
  speech
• Right Action Not taking life, not stealing and
  not hurting others
• Right Livelihood Rejecting occupations that
  conflict with Buddhist ideals
• Right Effort Avoiding bad attitudes and
  developing good ones
• Right Mindfulness being aware of ones own
  body, feelings, and thoughts
• Right Concentration Thinking deeply to find
  answers to problems.
• MUSICALE

9
Why do Buddhist Follow the Middle Way?

• Buddhists try to follow the Middle Way so that
  they can avoid suffering.
• The Middle Way avoids the two extremes- too much
  pleasure, and too much unhappiness.

10
Nirvana

• Nirvana is the supreme state free from
  suffering and individual existence. It is a state
  Buddhists refer to as "Enlightenment". It is the
  ultimate goal of all Buddhists. The attainment of
  nirvana breaks the otherwise endless rebirth
  cycle of reincarnation. Buddhists also consider
  nirvana as freedom from all worldly concerns such
  as greed, hate, and ignorance. No one can
  describe in words what nirvana is. It can only be
  experienced directly.

11
Missionaries

• A person who spreads his or her religious beliefs
  to others.

12
What does Buddhism Teach? The Four Noble Truths

• Life is suffering
• Suffering has a cause cravings and attachment
• Cravings and attachment can be overcome
• The path toward the cessation of craving and
  attachment is an Eightfold Path (the Middle Way)
• It is also taught that nothing is permanent or
  endures forever.

13
What happened to Buddhism over time?

• Missionaries traveled to other countries to
  spread Buddhas teachings.
• Travelers who came to India learned the religion
  during their stay and took it home with them.
• After Buddha died, the religion eventually died
  out in India, but had spread to other countries.

14
How are Hinduism and Buddhism alike?

• Buddha was born of a Hindu family.
• They both believe it is wrong to harm living
  creatures.
• Both value nonviolence and believe in dharma and
  the cycle of rebirth.
• Both practice meditation, but they practice it in
  different forms.

15

• Both Hinduism and Buddhism emphasize the illusory
  nature of the world and the role of karma in
  keeping men bound to this world and the cycle of
  births and deaths.
• According to the Buddha, desire is the root cause
  of suffering and removal of desire results in the
  cessation of suffering. Some of the Hindu texts
  such as the Upanishads (Isa) and the
  Bhagavad-Gita consider doing actions prompted by
  desire and attachment would lead to bondage and
  suffering and that performing actions without
  desiring the fruit of action would result in
  liberation.
• Both religions believe in the concept of karma,
  transmigration of souls and the cycle of births
  and deaths for each soul. 
• Both emphasize compassion and non violence
  towards all living beings. 
• Both believe in the existence of several hells
  and heavens or higher and lower worlds. 
• Both believe in the existence of gods or deities
  on different planes. 
• Both believe in certain spiritual practices like
  meditation, concentration, cultivation of certain
  bhavas or states of mind.
• Both believe in detachment, renunciation of
  worldly life as a precondition to enter to
  spiritual life. Both consider desire as the chief
  cause of suffering. 
• The Advaita philosophy of Hinduism is closer to
  Buddhism in many respects. 
• Buddhism and Hinduism have their own versions of
  Tantra. 
• Both originated and evolved on the Indian soil.
  The founder of Buddhism was a Hindu who became
  the Buddha. Buddhism is the greatest gift of
  India to mankind.

16
How are Hinduism and Buddhism different?

• Hinduism appealed to the lower classes.
• The Buddhists do not embrace the sacred texts of
  the Hindus (Vedas)
• Hindus do not worship the Buddha as an avatar.

17
1. Hinduism is not founded by any particular
prophet. Buddhism was founded by the Buddha.  2.
Hinduism believes in the supremacy of the Vedas.
The Buddhist do not believe in the Vedas or for
that matter any Hindu scripture.  3. Buddhism
does not believe in the existence of souls whom
we generally call God. Hinduism believe in the
existence of Atman , that is the individual soul
and Brahman, the Supreme Creator.  4. Hinduism
accepts the Buddha as an incarnation of
Mahavishnu, one of the gods of Hindu trinity. The
Buddhist do not accept any Hindu god either as
equivalent or superior to the Buddha.  5. The
original Buddhism as taught by the Buddha is
known as Theravada Buddhism. 6. The Buddhists
consider the world to be full of sorrow and
regard ending the sorrow as the chief aim of
human life. The Hindus consider that there are
four chief aims in life which every being should
pursue. They are dharma (religious duty), artha
(wealth or material possessions), kama (desires
and passions) and moksha (salvation.)  7. Hindus
also believe in the four stages in life. This is
not followed in Buddhism. People can join the
Order any time depending upon their spiritual
preparedness.  8. Buddhists organize themselves
into a monastic Order and the monks live in
groups. Hinduism is basically a religion of the
individual. 9. Buddhism believes in the concept
of Bodhisattvas. Hinduism does not believe in
it. 11. Buddhism acknowledge the existence of
some gods and goddesses of Hindu pantheon, but
give them a rather subordinate status. 12. Refuge
in the Buddha, the Dhamma are the three cardinal
requirements on the eightfold path. Hinduism
offers many choices to its followers on the path
of self-realization. 13. Although both religions
believe in karma and rebirth, they differ in the
manner in which they operate and impact the
existence of individual beings.
18
What other countries has Buddhism spread to?
Buddhism has spread to China, the Koreas, Japan,
Tibet and Vietnam, as well as many others.
19
In what countries is Buddhism a large part of
their culture?

• There are approximately 328,000,000 Buddhists
  worldwide. Buddhism is mainly practiced in Asia,
  in countries such as Vietnam, Japan, Sri Lanka,
  Kampuchea, S. Korea, Taiwan, Laos, Cambodia,
  Thailand, Myanmar and China.
• Buddhism started in India, but is really only
  practiced now on its margins, in areas such as
  Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. There are however
  Buddhist Centers throughout the world.