Transcript Brief

Living Religions
A Brief Introduction
3rd Edition
Mary Pat Fisher
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Chapter 5 Buddhism
The life and legend of the Buddha
The Dharma
Branches of Buddhism
Buddhism in the West
Socially engaged Buddhism
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Key terms
anatman (Pali: anatta)
anitya (Pali: anicca)
arhant (Pali: arhat)
bhikshu (Pali: bhikkhu;
feminine: bhikshuni, bhikkhuni)
bodhisattvas
deity yoga
Dhammapada
Dharma (Pali: Dhamma)
dukkha
Jodo Shinshu
koan
Lamas
Mahayana
mandalas
nirvana
Pali Canon
Pure Land
Rissho Koseikai
sangha
satori
stupas
sunyata
Tantrayana
thangkas
Theravada
Tipitaka
Triple Gem
Vajrayana
vipassana
zazen
Zen
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Timeline
c. 5th century BCE
c. 258 BCE
c. 200 BCE-200 CE
c. 100 BCE-300 CE
c. 80 BCE
c. 50 CE
1st century CE
c. 150-250
c. 550
c. 609-650
845
1222-1282
c. 1200-1500
1959-
Life of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha
Ashoka spreads Buddhism outside India
Theravada develops
Perfection of Wisdom books develop
Pali Canon written down in Sri Lanka
Buddhism spreads to China, SE Asia
Mahayana develops
Life of Nagarjuna
Buddhism enters Japan
Songtsan establishes Tibetan Buddhism
Chinese persecute Buddhism
Life of Nichiren
Buddhism declines in India
China represses Tibetan Buddhism
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The Life and Legend of the Buddha
What we know about him has been passed down through his
followers
Prolific teachings passed down orally; written down hundreds
of years after his death
Followers have recalled his life in sacred biographies
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The Life and Legend of the Buddha (cont.)
Siddhartha led a sheltered life of luxury
Left home and say the Four Sights: a bent aged man, a sick
person, a corpse, and a monk
Left home at 29 to wander as an ascetic
Found extreme lifestyles did not answer his questions—led
to the Middle Way: neither self-indulgence or self-denial
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The Life and Legend of the Buddha (cont.)
Vowed to site under tree at Gaya until enlightenment
Experienced 4 states of contemplation and had 3
realizations, he could:
•Recall all his past lives
•See the entire cycle of life and death
•See the cause of suffering and the means of ending it
Siddhartha became the Buddha, the one who woke up
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The Life and Legend of the Buddha (cont.)
Spent the next 45 years teaching
His teaching (dharma) included Four Noble Truths, the
Nobel Eightfold Path, the Three Marks of Existence
Some followers became monks (bhikshus); women were
allowed to become nuns if they followed the 8 special rules
Disciples (the sangha) accepted people from all castes and
levels of society
When the Buddha died, he told his followers to be
responsible for their own spiritual development
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The Dharma
Buddhism often described as nontheistic
No personal God; do not worship the Buddha
Revere the Buddha’s teachings—a raft to take followers to the
farther shore, nirvana
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The Four Noble Truths
Life inevitably involves suffering, is imperfect and
unsatisfactory
Suffering originates in our desires
Suffering will cease if all desires cease
There is a way to realize this state: the Noble Eightfold Path
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The Noble Eightfold Path to Liberation
Right Understanding: realize and understand the Four Noble
Truths
Right Thought or Motives: uncover any unwholesome roots in
one’s thinking, eliminate self-centeredness
Right Speech: abstain from lying, gossiping, speaking harshly,
divisive speech
Right Action: observe the Five Precepts, namely to avoid
destroying life, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and
intoxicants
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The Noble Eightfold Path to Liberation (cont.)
Right Livelihood: make a living without violating the Five
Precepts
Right Effort: eliminate impurities of the mind and cultivate
wholesome actions
Right Mindfulness: be aware in every moment, discipline the
mind
Right Meditation: quiet the mind through mental discipline
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The Wheel of Birth and Death
No eternal, independently existing soul to be reborn
Central cause is karma
3 root afflictions: greed, hate, and delusion
Cultivating non-greed, non-hate, and non-delusion act as
causes to leave the circle of birth and death
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Branches of Buddhism
Theraveda: way of the elders
Prevalent in Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia,
Laos
Mayahana: great vehicle
Prevalent in China, Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, Japan, Nepal,
Tibet
Both agree on basic concepts of Four Noble Truths, karma,
samsara, nirvana
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Theraveda: The path of mindfulness
Devotional practices dominate
Central text is the Pali Canon
Triple Gem
The Buddha
The Dharma
The Sangha
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Mahayana: The Path of Compassion and
Wisdom
Focus on liberation of all beings
Many Buddhas and bodhisattvas
Buddha is an immanent presence in the universe
Three bodies of Buddha
Emptiness (sunyata)
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Other Branches
Chan and Zen: the great way of enlightenment
Pure Land: devotion to Amitabha Buddha
Nichiren: salvation through the Lotus Sutra
Vajrayana: the indestructible path
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Buddhism in the West
Various forms of Buddhism have spread to the West
Exodus of thousands of Tibetans
Efforts of Zen teachers
Establishment of Theravada vipassana meditation centers
Difficult to replicate the monastic traditions in a Western
setting
For immigrants maintaining Buddhist practices means
maintaining cultural and ethnic traditions
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Socially Engaged Buddhism
Emerging focus on the relevance of Buddhism to social
problems
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