BUDDHISM Founder Siddhartha Gautama 563 483 BCE who

BUDDHISM Founder: Siddhartha Gautama (563 -483 BCE), who was, according to legend, a prince in India. Buddha is a title meaning enlightened one. . birth old age, death. sorrow, misery, grief, and despair, for the extinction of which in the present life I am prescribing. . .

The Buddha’s Reformation of Hindu Dharma In Hinduism, the eternal self (atman) seeks liberation from samsara by means of ritual performance, or self-mortification, or realization of the identity of atman with Brahman. The Buddha rejects ritual, rejects the Vedas and the Upanishads, condemns Atman is Brahman as too intellectual. He rejects the caste system and bases salvation on a strict code of personal behavior and religious insight.

The 12 Acts of the Buddha 1. Waiting in Tushita Heaven. Prior to its human birth, the life that was to become the Buddha, existed in the divine realm of Tushita. (the sated), a blissful but impermanent state. 2. Growing in the womb of Mayadevi. Queen Mayadevi dreams that a white, six-tusked elephant entered her womb. She knew an auspicious and powerful son was coming.

Siddhartha is Born 3. Final human birth. In a grove of sal trees, her son emerged painlessly from her side. Siddhartha, “Object Achieved, " took 7 steps in each direction and proclaimed: I alone in the world am the honored one. Mayadevi dies a few days later, and is reborn as a goddess. Marks on Siddhartha’s body indicated his destiny for great earthly power. A soothsayer warns that he would seek spiritual sovereignty instead if he realized that worldly power was subject to decay. 4. Intellectual and physical training.

The Legend of Siddhartha 5. Marriage and sensuality. His Dad provides a wife, 3 palaces, and 40, 000 dancing girls. At age 29 Gautama slips outside the compound and sees: The four sights: An old man (old age) A diseased man (disease) A corpse (death) A serene monk (potential for liberation).

6. The Great Renunciation Siddhartha leaves his wife and son in pursuit of a higher dharma, the search for enlightenment (bhodi) and Nirvana (emancipation). 7. Self denial: Followed current gurus, mastered their dharma, attained Samadhi, but still felt unsatisfied. Mastered ascetic techniques, became emaciated. Realized a healthy body is necessary to pursue wisdom. Advocates a middle path between sensual indulgence and self-denial.

Attaining Enlightenment 8. March to the center. Finds the Bodhi tree, sits. 9. Overcoming Mara. The lord of samsara attempts to defeat Siddhartha with fear, hate, and lust. The earth is my witness. 10. Attaining enlightenment. Saw his former lives, saw the entire space-time continuum. Saw the universality of suffering. Relinquished desire, desirelessness, and indifference. Now is birth and death finished!

Teaching and Final Nirvana 11. Teaching: Siddhartha, now become the Buddha, decided it was useless to teach others. The King of the gods asks him to teach those “with little dust on their eyes. ” For 45 years, expounds on his first sermon, The Wheel Sutra. 12. Final Nirvana: Ill from some bad alms food, gathers disciples, What was to be done has been done. Now, be your own refuges and your own lights. All things made of parts will drop apart. Work out your liberation diligently. The Buddha then attained final Nirvana, he “went out” as the candle’s flame goes out.

The New Dharma Retains belief in karma: every action bears fruit, good actions bring good fruit, bad actions bad fruit. He adds that intention is more important than the action itself. Samsara: cycle of birth and rebirth: all sentient beings undergo repeated rebirth. Karma determines the next stage of existence that one’s predispositions will occupy.

The Fiveto. Stages of Existence stage k We l ac b e m o c 1! 1. Denizen of Hell (pit of coals) 2. Animal (pit of excrement) 3. Hungry Ghost (tree with little shade. 4. Human (shady tree) 5. Deity, higher spirit (palace)

Dharma: Law, Doctrine. Four Noble Truths I. Noble Truth of sorrow/suffering. Life is characterized by birth, disease, death, contact with unpleasant things, separation from pleasant things, unfulfilled wishes. Contact with a pleasant person or thing is pleasurable. When such contact becomes impossible, suffering and sadness results. But if you have no attachment to that person or thing, that is freedom/liberation. Whatever is impermanent is dukkha.

Samudaya: the Arising of Dukkha Noble truth of the arising of sorrow. It is thirst (tanha) which produces re-existence and re-becoming, and which is bound up with passionate greed. . Thirst for sensepleasures, thirst for existence and becoming, thirst for nonexistence. The origin of this “thirst” is the false idea of self. Selfish craving for and attachment to pleasure, wealth, power, ideas, opinions, and beliefs, generates karma and keeps one bound to samsara.

Nirodha: The Cessation of Dukkha Third noble truth: there is emancipation, liberation, freedom from suffering. to eliminate dukkha, one must eliminate the “thirst” that is its source. Nirvana, the extinction of thirst. Freedom from conceit, destruction of thirst, the uprooting of attachment, Nibbana. The extinction of desire, the extinction of hatred, the extinction of illusion. Annihilation of the false idea of “self. ”

Magga: The Path IV. Noble truth of the way that leads to the stopping of suffering: the eightfold path. Following the 8 -fold path leads to the perfection of Ethical conduct, Mental discipline, and Wisdom. Right views (intuitive insight: seeing things as they really are, awareness of the triple truth- all existence is suffering and impermanent, there is no permanent self or soul).

Wisdom Right thought. Selfless renunciation or detachment, thoughts of love and non-violence directed to all living things. Ill-will, hatred, violence, result from lack of wisdom. Ethical conduct (Sila), based on universal love and compassion for all living beings. Moral perfection requires the equal development of wisdom and compassion.

Moral Conduct Right Speech. Truthfulness, no slander, profanity, abusive speech, or idle talk. Right Conduct- avoid killing, lying, stealing, sexual misconduct, intoxicants. Right Livelihoodbutcher, tanner, astrologer, psychic (forbidden jobs). 5 Precepts To abstain from taking life To abstain from taking what is not given To abstain from sensuous misconduct To abstain from false speech To abstain from intoxicants as tending to cloud the mind.

Mental Discipline Right Effort- the energetic will to prevent evil thoughts and to produce good thoughts. Right Mindfulness. To be attentive to bodily activities, mental states, feelings. Awareness of their nature, arising, and disappearing. We are always giving our attention to something. Appropriate attention is to dwell fully in the present moment When we are mindful, we can see and listen deeply, and the fruits are always understanding, acceptance, love, and the desire to relieve suffering and bring joy. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Right Concentration Right concentration leads to the four stages of Dhyana. First, discard passionate desires and unwholesome thoughts. Next, suppress intellectual activity, develop tranquility and ‘one-pointedness’ of mind. Third, feeling of joy disappears, leaving happiness and equanimity. Finally, all sensations disappear, pure equanimity and mindfulness remain.

Two Schools of Buddhism Theravada (way of the elders, called Hinayana-lesser vehicle-by the later school). Goal- Nirvana without residue. Sage- Arhant, an enlightened being, attains Nirvana and escapes samsara. Nirvana (lit. ) to blow out, to be extinguished like the flame of a candle (transcendence, not annihilation). Seems to require that one become a monk in order to attain enlightenment.

Mahayana Buddhism (1 BCE) Greater vehicle: Goal- Nirvana with residue. Sage- Bodhisattva, a being destined for enlightenment. Achieves Nirvana but chooses to remain in samsara to help other sentient beings reach enlightenment. Has a storehouse of good karma to transfer to others. The path for becoming a bodhisattva is open to all, even the worst sinner.

Anatman (No Self) A sentient being is merely a composite of five aggregates in a state of flux: body, sensations, perceptions, volitions, consciousness. This combination gives rise to the illusion of self, which in turn produces craving, tying one to samsara. The human condition- sorrowful, transient, soulless entities. Buddhist ethics: not to commit evil, to do good, to purify one’s mind. An act is evil if it brings harm to oneself or others.

Zen Buddhism (C’han) Emphasis on meditation, intuitive insight producing sudden enlightenment (satori). Scriptures and doctrine are unimportant. Meditation allows one to discover one’s own Buddha nature. Become a Buddha just as you are. Absence of rational thought, employs questions and answers, koansillogical utterances (the sound of one hand clapping). Legendary founder- Bodhidharma.

Zen Schools Northern schoolenlightenment comes gradually. Absolute quietude must be attained, erroneous thoughts eliminated, for the pure mind to arise. Southern schooladvocates sudden enlightenment. Rejects pure mind/false mind distinction. The Buddha -mind is everywhere, so anything at any time may occasion its realization.

Illogical Zen To realize one’s Buddha nature, one must transcend the limits of mere affirmation and denial. Empty handed I go, and behold the spade is in my hands. . . Accordingly, Zen masters advocate: the absence of thought, forgetting our feelings, letting the mind take its own course.

Zazen The human tongue is not an adequate organ for expressing the deepest truths of Zen; [which] cannot be made the subject of logical exposition; they are to be experienced in the inmost soul when they become for the first time intelligible. Zen…most strongly and persistently insists on an inner spiritual experience. It does not attach any intrinsic importance to the sacred sutras or their exegeses by the wise…. Personal experience is strongly set against authority and objective revelation, and as the most practical method of attaining enlightenment the followers of Zen propose Dhyana, known as zazen in Japan. (D. T. Suzuki)

Undetermined Questions Buddha calls certain questions undetermined and claims that knowing the answers is not necessary for enlightenment. The attempt to answer them will hinder one’s quest for liberation. Is the world eternal? Is it infinite? Is the soul identical with the body? Does the Tathagata (enlightened being) exist after death? Buddhism as skillful means the raft of the dharma is for carrying over, not for retaining. The dharma consists of provisional teachings, that adapt and change with time.

Upaya (Skilful Means) Buddhism as skillful means the raft of the dharma is for carrying over, not for retaining. The dharma consists of provisional teachings, that adapt and change with time. The indescribable ultimate reality, Dharmakaya, or the Buddha nature, is manifested to human consciousness in different forms, Amida Buddha, Nibbana, sunnyata.

References Armstrong, K. (2001). Buddha. New York: Penguin Armstrong, K. ( 2007). The great transformation. New York: Anchor. Bodhi, B. (Ed. ). (2005). In the Buddha’s words. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications Inc. Conze, E. (ed. ). (1959). Buddhist scriptures. New York: Penguin. Corless, R. J. (1989). The vision of Buddhism. New York: Paragon House. Hanh, T. N. (1995). Living Buddha, living Christ. New York: Riverhead Books.

References, cont. Hanh, T. N. (1998). The heart of the Buddha’s teaching. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press. Hanh, T. N. (2001). Anger. New York: Riverhead Books. Hick, J. H. (1976). Death & eternal life. San Francisco: Harper and Row. Hick, J. H. (1995). Disputed questions in theology and the philosophy of religion. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. La. Fleur, W. (1988). Buddhism: a cultural perspective. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Rahula, W. (1959). What the Buddha taught. New York: Grove Press.