Buddhism

1
Buddhism

• A Brief Overview

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Siddhartha Guatama

• c. 563-403 BCE
• Kshatriya caste
• Shakya Tribe
• NE India (today Nepal)
• Mother dies shortly after he was born
• Ruler or sadhu???

• Wife was Yasodhara
• Son was Rahula

3
Four Sights

• An Old Person
• A Sick Person

• A Corpse
• A Holy Man

4
Great Going Forth

• Seeks out teachers
• Becomes ascetic to the point of death
• Discovers the Middle Way

• Finds Enlightment
• Bodhi or pipal tree
• Mara tempts him
• Daughters desire, pride, greed, ignorance, fear
• Lord of Death
• As Himself
• Ego
• Self-Doubt

5
The Buddha

• Sanskrit word to wake up
• Awakened One
• Taught from 35 to his death at 80

6
Four Noble Truths

• Dukkha. All life is suffering
• Anichcha change or impermanence
• Anatta no self, no soul
• 3 marks
• Samudaya. Suffering Comes from Desire
• tanha
• Nirodha
• nirvana

• Eight-fold Path
• Right Association is foundation
• Wisdom Elements
• Right Understanding
• Right Intention
• Ethical Conduct
• Right Speech
• Right Action
• Right Livelihood
• Mental
• Right Effort
• Right Mindfulness
• Right Concentration

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Panca Sila and Dasa Sila

• Panca Sila or 5 precepts
• Abstain from harming living beings ahimsa
• Abstain from taking things not freely given
• Abstain from sexual misconduct
• Abstain from false speech
• Abstain from intoxicating drinks and drugs

• Dasa Sile or 10 Precepts
• Abstain from taking untimely meals
• Abstain from dancing, music, singing
• Abstain from the use of garlands, perfumes,
  personal adornment
• Abstain from use of high seats
• Abstain from accepting silver or gold

8
Teachings Grow

• 45 yrs work
• 480 BCE Ragir
• 380 BCE Vesali
• Oral Tradition for some four centuries

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Theravada Buddhism

• School of the Elders
• Vada way
• Thera elders
• Hinayana
• Yanas raft
• Lesser Raft or Vehicle
• More Common in South (Sri Lanka, Thailand,
  Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar)

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Theravada

• Sri Lanka home base
• Sangha emphasized
• Arhat or worthy

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Pali Canon

• Theravada monks in the 1st century BCE
• Tipitaka (Tithree pitakabaskets)
• Three Divisions

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Sutta Pitaka

• Thread
• Collections of the Buddhas sayings in sermons or
  dialogues
• Digha Nikaya
• Majjhima Nikaya
• Samyutta Nikaya
• Anguttara Nikaya
• Khuddaka Nikaya
• Dhammapada and Jataka Tales

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Facts and Figures

• 185 million Mahayana Buddhists (56)
• 124 million Theravada Buddhists (38)
• 20 million Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhists (6)

• Total of some 329 million 5.6 of the worlds
  religious population
• 98.9 live in Asia
• Numbers would be greater if there was more
  freedom of religion in China

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Two Other Divisions

• Vinaya Pitaka
• Book of Discipline for bhikkhus (monks) and
  bhikkhunis (nuns)
• Contains 227 rules for how they should live in
  sangha
• Also stories of the origins of these rules

• Abhidhamma Pitaka
• the works that go beyond the elementary
  teachings
• More philosophical

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Mahayana Buddhism

• Spread NW from India to Nepal, China, Tibet,
  Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan
• Big Raft accommodates more people, traditions,
  needs
• Many schools and Traditions within it

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Some Common Mahayana Themes

• Bodhisattva or Enlightenment Being
• Karuna or compassion a goal
• People strive to achieve enlightenment
• Heavenly bodhisattvas help
• Avalokitesvara or Kuan-yin popular

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Three Bodies of Buddha

• Dharmakaya
• Law or form body body of reality
• Cosmic Buddha nature
• Universal consciousness that absolute reality
• Nirmakaya
• Transformation body
• Buddha principle incarnates
• Human form of Siddhartha here

• Sambogakaya
• Perfect-Bliss Body Buddhas
• Communicate dharma to Bodhisattvas

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Shunyata

• Emptiness or Zero-ness
• Nagarjuna 2nd or 3rd century Indian philosopher
• Samsara, nirvana all things are empty of
  inherent existence
• All teachings of the Buddha are also empty

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Scripture

• Tipitaka
• Sanskrit Version
• Open-Ended and On-Going Insights. Including
• Prajnaparamita Sutra
• Sutras on the Perfection of Wisdom

• Vimalakirti Sutra
• Saddharma Sutra
• Lotus Sutra

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Some Famous Mahayana Schools

• Zen
• North China, then Japan
• Tendai
• China
• Pure Land or Jodo
• Japan
• Nichiren
• Japan

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Zen

• Chan in Chinese from Indian dhyana or meditation
• Bodhidharma
• Indian monk to China c. 470 CE
• Nine years of silent meditation facing a wall
• More intuitive approach

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Key Ideas

• Regular seated meditation or Zazen
• Kensho or sudden burst of enlightenment
• Satori or enlightenment is the goal

• Koans or gong-an (kung-an)
• Public discussion
• Riddles or puzzles
• Sanzen

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Flag, Wind

• Two monks were watching a flag flapping in the
  wind. One said to the other, the flag is
  moving. The other replied, the wind is moving.
  Huineng overheard this. He said, not the flag,
  not the wind, mind is moving.

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Guteis Finger

• Whenever anyone asked him about Zen, the
  great master Gutei would quietly raise one finger
  into the air. A boy in the village began to
  imitate this behavior. Whenever he heard people
  talking about Gutei's teachings, he would
  interrupt the discussion and raise his finger.
  Gutei heard about the boy's mischief. When he saw
  him in the street, he seized him and cut off his
  finger. The boy cried and began to run off, but
  Gutei called out to him. When the boy turned to
  look, Gutei raised his finger into the air. At
  that moment the boy became enlightened.

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Vajrayana Buddhism

• Diamond Vehicle
• Branch of Mahayana, but also a kind of third
  vehicle
• Hidden teachings
• Tibet key. Also Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia, and
  other places

• Mixes Buddhism with Bon (pronounce it pern)
  a native religion

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A Little History and Teaching

• 7th century CE Songstan (Song-tsen-gam-po), king
  of Tibet, sent out learners
• Buddhism mixed with indigenous religion and
  tantric practice to form this stream
• Lamas are revered teachers
• Thang-kas and mandalas used to assist in focus
  for meditation
• Use energy of body to focus the mind

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Dalai Lama

• Ocean of Wisdom
• Yeshin Norbu, Wish-Fulfilling Gem
• Kundun, The Presence
• Tenzin Gaytso, 14th Dalai Lama born 1937
• Manifestation of Bodhisattva of Compassion
• Recognized at age 2

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Some Key Details

• Became leader of Tibet at 16 in 1950
• Earned doctorate in Buddhist Studies at 24
• Forced into exile by Chinese military occupation
  in 1959
• Won Noble Peace Prize in 1989

• "Compassion is what makes our lives meaningful.
  It is the source of all lasting happiness and
  joy. And it's the foundation of a good heart, the
  heart of one who acts out of a desire to help
  others. Through kindness, through affection,
  through honesty, through truth and justice toward
  all others we ensure our own benefit. This is not
  a matter for complicated theorizing. It is a
  matter of common sense. There is no denying that
  consideration of others is worthwhile. There is
  no denying that if society suffers we ourselves
  suffer. Nor is there any denying that the more
  our hearts and minds are afflicted with ill-will,
  the more miserable we become. Thus we can reject
  everything else religion, ideology, all received
  wisdom. But we cannot escape the necessity of
  love and compassion."

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Scripture

• Kanjur
• Core
• From the Tipitaka

• Tenjur
• Commentaries
• Treatises
• More than 4,000