Transcript Buddhism
Buddhism To do no evil; To cultivate good; To purify one's mind: This is the teaching of the Buddhas. ~The Dhammapada~ The Four Noble Truths 1. Identifying the Symptoms Life is suffering. (Dukkha) 2. Diagnosis Desire is the cause of life’s suffering. (Tanha) 3. Prognosis Suffering has an end. 4. Prescription The way to overcome suffering is by following the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path *Quotes from Huston Smith Wisdom (Prajna) 1. Right Views The Four Noble Truths 2. Right Intent “People who achieve greatness are almost invariably passionately invested in some one thing.” Morality (Shila) 3. Right Speech “…resolve to notice how many times during the day we deviate from the truth, and to follow this up by asking why we did so.” 4. Right Conduct “…call to understand one’s behavior more objectively before trying to improve it.” Five Precepts: 1. Do not kill. 2. Do not steal. 3. Do not lie. 4. Do not be unchaste. 5. Do not drink intoxicants. 5. Right Livelihood “…engaging in occupations that promote life instead of destroying it.” Meditation (Samadhi) 6. Right Effort “Those who follow the Way might well follow the example of an ox that marches through the deep mire carrying a heavy load. He is tired, but his steady gaze, looking forward, will never relax until he comes out of the mire…” 7. Right Mindfulness “…special times should be allotted for undistracted introspection.” 8. Right Concentration “Something happened to the Buddha under the Bo Tree, and something has happened to every Buddhist since who has persevered to the final step of the Eightfold Path. Like a camera, the mind had been poorly focused, but the adjustment has now been made.” What do you see? Read this sentence: FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS. Now count the F's in the sentence. Count them only once. Do not go back and count them again. Vaccha asked Buddha if one still exists after attaining Enlightenment (Nirvana)… “The word reborn does not apply to him.” “Then he is not reborn?” “The term not-reborn does not apply to him.” “To each and all of my questions, Gotama, you have replied in the negative. I am at a loss and bewildered.” “You ought to be at a loss and bewildered, Vaccha. For this doctrine is profound, hard to comprehend, rare, excellent, beyond dialectic, subtle, only to be understood by the wise. Let me therefore question you. If there were a fire blazing in front of you, would you know it?” “Yes, Gotama.” “If the fire went out, would you know it had gone out?” “Yes.” “If now you were asked in what direction the fire had gone, whether to east, west, north, or south, could you give an answer?” What does that really mean? Think about a flame… “Expiring flames do not really go out but return to the pure, invisible condition of fire they shared before they visibly appeared” Say what? “The ultimate destiny of the human spirit is a condition in which all identification with the historical experience of the finite self will disappear, while experience as such not only remains but is heightened beyond recognition.” NO soul??? (Anatta) Hold up-let me explain… Think about a flame again… “He (Buddha) used the image of a flame being passed from candle to candle. As it is difficult to think of the flame on the final candle as being the original flame, the connection would seem to be a causal one, in which influence was transmitted by chain reaction but without perduring substance.” Nothing lasts forever…(Anicca) “Regard this phantom world As a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream, A flash of lightning in a summer cloud, A flickering lamp—a phantom—and a dream.” ~Buddha~ Let’s stop and review… “The Three Marks of Existence”: Suffering (Dukkha) No soul (Anatta) Impermanence (Anicca) Are you still confused? It’s okay… “A thousand questions remain, but the Buddha is silent. Others abide our questions. Thou are free. We ask and ask; thou smilest and art still.” ~One of Buddha’s disciples~ The Two Branches of Buddhism *Quotes from Huston Smith Hinayana (Theravada) “Little Raft” “No one saves us but ourselves, No one can and no one may; We ourselves must tread the Path: Buddhas only show the way.” Mahayana “Big Raft” “He findeth not who seeks his own…” Hinayana (Theravada) “Little Raft” Mahayana “Big Raft” Key virtue=Wisdom (bodhi) Key virtue=Compassion (karuna) Primarily for members of monastic order (sangha) Relevant to laypeople Ideal=Arhat Ideal=Boddhisattva Buddha=teacher, sage, man Buddha=world savior Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia China, Korea, Japan, Tibet Popular Sects *Quotes from Huston Smith What sets Tibetan Buddhism apart from the other branches? Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhism Enlightenment can be reached in just one lifetime! Sights (mandalas), sounds (mantras), and motions (mudras) Sights Sounds Om Mani Padme Hum Motions Free Tibet Movement Free Tibet Movement “The Bodhisattva Path Is One Of Power And Strength A Strength From Within To Go The Length Seeing Others Are As Important As Myself I Strive For A Happiness Of Mental Wealth With The Interconnectedness That We Share As One Every Action That We Take Affects Everyone So In Deciding For What A Situation Calls There Is A Path For The Good For All I Try To Make My Every Action For That Highest Good With The Altruistic Wish To Achieve Buddhahood So I Pledge Here Before Everyone Who's Listening To Try To Make My Every Action For The Good Of All Beings For The Rest Of My Lifetimes And Even Beyond…” The Panchen Lama Yabshi Pan Rinzinwangmo (Renji) Gedhun Choekyi Nyima Just for fun… Just for fun… Zen Buddhism We are all familiar with the sound of two hands clapping. What is the sound of one hand clapping? Li-ku, a high-ranking officer in the Tang dynasty, asked a famous Ch’an master: “A long time ago a man kept a goose in a bottle. It grew larger until it could not get out of the bottle any more. He did not want to break the bottle, nor did he wish to harm the goose. How would you get it out?” Zen Buddhism A master, Wu Tsu, says, “Let me make an illustration from a fable. A cow passes by a window. Its head, horns, and the four legs all pass by. Why did not the tail pass by?” What was the appearance of your face before your ancestors were born? Zen Buddhism Use of riddles (koans) Reason is limited 98% of the world’s Buddhists live in Asia… that’s 373 million people Going Global… Going Global… Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring… Does the film make more sense now?