Transcript Buddhist Teaching

Buddhist Teaching
World Religions
Chapter 4
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The Practice of Buddhism
Most Buddhists revere Gautama Buddha,
but it is his teachings that are core of
Buddhist belief and practice.
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The collection of
Buddhist teaching
is called the
Dharma.
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The challenge of
understanding
Buddhist teaching is
that they presuppose
a deep experience of
meditation.
Buddha himself
seemed to think that
only a few would be
fit for the task.
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Buddhist teaching is unique.
Dharma, Buddha’s teachings, are the
reflections of a human being – and are not
dependent on divine revelation.
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It does not depend heavily on faith – but
on gained wisdom and practice.
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Buddhism and Hinduism
Although Buddhism
shares many ideas
with Hinduism,
much of the
Buddha’s teaching
was a response to
what he saw as
the excesses of
Hindu religion in
his day.
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Some similarities:

Cosmology – Both religions share
the idea that the universe is
eternal, and that time is cyclical.
The universe is created and
destroyed over and over.

For Buddhists, Gautama is
not the first or last Buddha –
He is one among many.
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Samsara:
Both traditions
believe in the
“wheel of rebirth”,
and that people
can only escape
once they have
achieved
enlightenment –
moksha in
Hinduism and
nirvana in
Buddhism.
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Nirvana means literally
To blow out, as a candle is extinguished.
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Buddha’s reactions to the Hinduism of his
day were prompted by his rejection of
Brahmin rituals and speculative theology –
which he thought were useless for
attaining enlightenment.
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He also rejected the caste system.
Anyone was welcome to join his community.
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While the priests kept the sacred texts
secret in Sanskrit, Buddha made sure his
teachings were available in
Pali – a local dialect spoken by the
common people.
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Buddhist Teaching
The teachings of the
Buddha focus on
the predicament of
individuals
and their destiny.
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The Buddha
searched deep
inside himself,
and what he
found may be
confusing for us
at first.
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In his exploration into the realm of the self,
he realized that there is no self.
The self does not exist.
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How is this different from the Hinduism view
of ‘self’?
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The core of the Buddha’s discovery
Is that the reality of existence is change.
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Three Marks of Existence
1. Rather than finding the Atman within, the
Buddha discovered the no-self. This is
called Anatta.
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The essence of
Buddhism is
that there is
no essence.
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2) Anicca
Refers to the
impermanence
of all things.
“You can never
enter the same
river twice.”
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All things are always
changing, and
even though they
appear to be real
and changeless,
they are not.
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3)Dukkha
means “suffering”.
This is the result
of anatta and
anicca.
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Karma
Buddhist and
Hindu
understanding of
karma are
generally the
same.
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Since Buddhism
does not hold there
is an eternal
Atman, they use
the analogy of a
flame passing from
candle to candle –
the life is different
but the energy is
the same. The
energy is what is
transferred.
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One’s life is entirely determined by karma – by the
energy that is passed on from the moral decisions
made in a previous life.
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The Five Precepts
Because karma is so
important, morality
is key for
Buddhists.
Moral life requires
following the Five
Precepts:
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These five apply to all Buddhists:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Do not take life
Do not take what
is not given
Do not engage in
sensuous
misconduct
Do not use false
speech
Do not drink
intoxicants
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And the following
apply to
monks and nuns:
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



Do not eat after noon
Do not watch dancing
or shows
Do not use garlands,
perfumes, or
ornaments
Do not use a high or
soft bed
Do not accept gold or
silver
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Buddhist morality emphasizes intention.
The degree of immorality of an action depends on the
intention of the actor, and not the outcome.
Right intention is primary.
**Some systems of morality emphasize the intention of an
action; others emphasize the outcome of an action. Which do
you think has greater moral significance: intention or outcome?
Explain.
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The Four Noble Truths
During the Third
Watch of the night of
his enlightenment,
Gautama perceived
the 4 Noble Truths.
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To live is
to suffer
1) Suffering is
caused by
desire (tanha)
1) Suffering can be
brought to a
cessation (end)
2) The solution to
suffering is the
Noble Eightfold
Path
1)
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The Diagnosis of the Problem
The name of the
first noble truth is
dukkha,
translated as
suffering,
frustration,
dislocation, or
discomfort.
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The Buddha
taught that all of
life is suffused
with dukkha.
Birth, old age,
disease, and
death are filled
with suffering,
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but so are experiences of joy,
because they are
not lasting and will
never be as good
as they could be.
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Joy always leaves us longing for more,
and it is our
attachment to
joy that causes
us to suffer.
We suffer
because when
we don’t have
these things,
we are
disappointed,
and we are
hurt.
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Dukkha seems to be unavoidable.
Because all of life is
finite and
changing,
there is nothing
enduring that we
can hold on to.
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What is the Cause of Suffering?
Buddha moves from the diagnosis of the
problem to the cause of the problem –
tanha – which is translated as desire,
thirst, or craving.
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How can one avoid desiring things for oneself?
Happiness…success…a family….are these wrong?
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Buddha taught that the desire for these things will
cause suffering, and that individuals cannot avoid
desiring these things, because this is what it means
to be an individual.
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Recall what the Buddha taught about
individuality:
The self does not
exist.
While we are
attached to doing
things for
ourselves,
we will suffer.
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Is Buddha pessimistic?
Or merely realistic?
What do you think?
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Buddha believes that there is a cure for
this – that suffering and desire can be
rooted out.
His prognosis is the
Noble
Eightfold
Path.
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The Noble Eightfold Path
It is very comprehensive – covers all the
aspects of life – because suffering
covers all the aspects of life.
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1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Right
Right
Right
Right
Right
Right
Right
Right
view
intention
speech
conduct
livelihood
effort
mindfulness
meditation
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The first two deal with wisdom.
Right View means
seeing things as
they really are.
One must integrate
the 4 Noble Truths.
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“People usually consider walking on water or in thin
air a miracle.
But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on
water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.
Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we
don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds,
green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -our own two eyes.
All is a miracle.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh
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Right Intention
means to abandon evil
attitudes like greed,
hatred, and revenge,
and to develop good
attitudes like
generosity,
friendship, and
insight.
One must renounce all
desire, seek good will,
avoid anger, and
develop compassion for
all things.
“If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
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The next three deal with action.
Right speech
means to only
use speech that
heals and is
compassionate.
One must avoid all
lying, all gossip, all
abusive and idle
talk.
“In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh
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Right conduct
is to live morally by
obeying the 5
precepts.
This means to act
honestly and kindly,
to respect others’
possessions, and to
keep sexual
relationships from
being harmful.
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Right Livelihood
One cannot earn
a living from
things that
harm other
humans and
living beings –
selling weapons,
liquor, being a
butcher, or being
a soldier.
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The last three have to do with mental practice.
Right effort
means the
mental alertness
to control
senses.
One must control
and focus one’s
energy, senses,
and keep alert.
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Right Mindfulness
means to be in
complete control of
one’s mental faculty;
to be aware of how we
think, how we judge,
and to strive to be
mindful always of our
thoughts;
to see without judging.
“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When
mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”
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Right meditation
is the practice of
meditation that
leads one to a point
of prefect tranquility
– when the
individual self has
been abandoned.
The goal is nirvana.
Any thoughts on the Noble Eightfold Path?
In your mind, is it a sufficient path to follow to avoid suffering?
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Buddhists look forward to the final
experience of nirvana, when one is
freed from this existence,
like the Buddha.
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But, it is possible to live in this
existence as an awakened “saint,”
An arhat.
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The arhat has fully
let go of the individual self,
and is free to
act with
compassion
toward all
things in the
world.
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The Buddha did not say whether
or not there is life after death.
The most we can say is that nirvana is the
complete cessation of suffering, and is
absolute peace.
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