Transcript samsara - cont`d - Faith Cathedral Deliverance Centre

FAITH
CATHEDRAL
DELIVERANCE
CENTRE
WELCOMES YOU
TO THE STUDY ON
BUDDHISM
REFLECTION
STATEMENTS
 Buddha
gave 84,000 teachings revealing
many methods of spiritual trainings, all of
which are practical ways to control the mind
 Buddha urged followers to focus on the Four
Noble/Holy Truths in order to free self from
suffering
 The Four Noble/Holy Truths:
1. Suffering exists universally
2. Suffering has a cause
3. Suffering can be suppressed
4. Suffering ends by following the Eight-fold
Path
STATEMENTS CONT’D
The Eight-fold Path:
1. Right Speech
2. Right Viewpoint/understanding
3. Right Thought
4. Right Action
5. Right Occupation/Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Contemplation/Awareness
8. Right Meditation/Concentration
STATEMENTS CONT’D
The Eight-fold Path is divided into
three themes called the ‘Threefold Training’:
1. Good moral conduct
2. Concentration
3. Wisdom
MATCH EACH WORD ON THE LEFT WITH
ONE FROM THE RIGHT:
Salvation
Harmful
work
Speech
Human work
Action
Focus on one thing
Occupation Kill/steal
Meditation Gossip
ASSESSMENT
Select
the words from each set that
relate to Part 5:
1. Nirvana, suffering, monastery,
Sangha
2. Vehicles, wisdom, effort, Maya
3. Theravada, baskets, Dharma,
meditation
4. Actions, sage, viewpoints, Ananda
DID YOU DO
YOUR
ASSIGNMENT?
CHRISTIAN LINK
Use James 3: 5 & 8 to
substantiate ‘Right Speech’
2. Use Philippians 4: 8 to
combat any concept of the
‘Eight-Fold Path’
3. How would you associate
Galatians 5: 22-23 with the
‘Eight-Fold Path’?
1.
PART
SIX
SEQUEL TO THE
“THREEFOLD
TRAINING”
GOOD MORAL CONDUCT
Ten
fundamental rules of good
conduct have been established for
the monastic community to guide
monks in accordance with the rules .
Abstention from taking life,
stealing, unchastity, speaking
falsely, slandering, abuse, foolish
talk, coveteousness, malice and
harbouring wrong ideas.
GOOD MORAL CONDUCT - CONT’D
Monks
are also forbidden to
drink intoxicating liquor, eat
between meals, attend secular
amusement, use perfume and
jewellery, use luxurious beds,
and accept and use money.
WISDOM
Insight
into things as they
really are. To have insight
means to hold to the right
view of things.
MEDITATION/CONCENTRATION
Has
as its objective the
control of the mind- i.e. to
bring the mind to a single
point and hold it steady on
that point so there is no
wavering or wandering (since
it has a roaming intent).
MEDITATION/CONCENTRATION – CONT’D
Concentration
requires long practice
as the technique is worked out in
elaborate details:
The candidate chooses a monk, vows
to follow instruction, a conducive
place is chosen, the course of action
prescribed, the master studies the
mental learnings and prescribes the
subject for concentration.
MEDITATION/CONCENTRATION Candidate
CONT’D
undergoes trance like
experiences to eradicate evil
dispositions such as lust, hatred,
sloth, pride, and doubt, thus there is
calmness because of the absence of
worldly desires. Multiple stages are
embarked on until he goes into the
realm of the extinction of perception
and consciousness.
MEDITATION/CONCENTRATION –
Outwardly
CONT’D
it’s a state of coma where
motion, speech, thought, and
consciousness are absent.
A state that differs from death only
in the fact that physical life and
bodily warmth still remain.
It is said that before entering this
state the practitioner must
determine before hand when he
ASSESSMENT
How do you see meditation
as a method to be used by
Christians?
KHARMA
Specifically
refers to those
actions/ deeds (of body, spirit,
mind) that spring from mental
intent and which bring about
a consequence/ result.
KHARMA – CONT’D
The
good or bad actions one takes
during ones lifetime. Good actions
are positive acts such as
generosity, righteousness and
meditation bring about happiness
in the long run. Bad actions such
as lying stealing or killing bring
about unhappiness.
KHARMA -
Good
CONT’D
skilful deeds or bad
unskilled action produces
seeds in the mind which
come to fruition either in
this life or in a subsequent
rebirth.
KHARMA - CONT’D
The
doctrine of Kharma ensures
that good deeds are rewarded and
evil deeds punished. As a result of
the deeds performed in the past or
present, a living being would
continue in the cycle of rebirth and
assume a different form in each
rebirth.
SAMSARA
This
is the doctrine of a continuous
round of death and rebirth. It
means that one has lived before
and will live again but different
from the current life. This is
similar to reincarnation, the idea
that after death the soul is reborn
into another body.
SAMSARA -
The
CONT’D
quality of the next life
one lives depends on what one
does and what is learnt from
the current life.
SAMSARA - CONT’D
The
force of past kharma is so
strong it causes a new being to
come into existence inheriting
the fruits of the past kharma,
while the new complex that is
reborn is different from the
one just passed away.
SAMSARA Buddha
CONT’D
taught that every being
creates his/her own reality which
crosses over to form a given world
or realm in which one may exist
or be reborn. Ones state of
existence depends on ones karmic
activities.
There are six basic categories:
SAMSARA - CONT’D
Three unfortunate or lower realms
The realm of Hell
The realm of ghosts
The realm of Animals
Three fortunate or good realms
The realm of Asura (Demons)
The realm of Human
The realm of Deva (Heaven)
SAMSARA - CONT’D (HELL)
Suffering
is severe, continuous,
everlasting.
Beings who committed
unforgivable and evil deeds with
no regret or repentance.
The evil karma determines their
existence in hell. They suffer until
they are completely retributed or
the evil karma vanishes.
SAMSARA Those
CONT’D
(HELL)
who committed the deadly
sins, (kill mother, father, Arhat,
shed Buddha’s blood and create
disharmony among the Sanga)
they will stay in hell without
any specific time to be liberated.
SAMSARA It
CONT’D
(HELL)
is not the judgement of any
Buddhas or gods, nor is it the
judgement of any Supreme God.
Hell is the manifestation of ones
mind so self punishment is
inflected .
SAMSARA This
CONT’D
(GHOST)
realm, is a state of intense and
insatiable desire, frustration, and
dissatisfaction. Gratification is
always beyond reach. (The hungry
ghosts cannot eat as their throat is
as narrow as a pin, but their
stomach is as large as a drum).
SAMSARA If
CONT’D
(GHOST)
one wants to avoid descending
into the realm of the hungry ghost,
one has to learn to control one's
desires for money, sex, fame, food
and sleep.
The realm of hungry ghosts is a
form of punishment for greed.
SAMSARA This
CONT’D
(ANIMAL)
is another realm of misery but
those in this realm are not
cognisant of their misery because
this state is characterised by
stupidity. Those in animal
consciousness, there lives are
governed by conditioning,
indoctrination and seeking personal
gratification.
SAMSARA This
CONT’D
(ASURA)
is another realm of misery but
those in this realm are not
cognisant of their misery because
this state is characterised by
stupidity. Those in animal
consciousness, there lives are
governed by conditioning,
indoctrination and seeking personal
gratification.
SAMSARA -
CONT’D
(HUMAN)
The realm of man is considered the
highest realm of rebirth, and so one
of relative advantage.
In this realm one has the ability to
seek and enjoy pleasure and
happiness. The experience is equally
grounded in difficulty and hardship.
SAMSARA One
CONT’D
(HUMAN)
has to observe the five precepts
– avoid killing, stealing, illicit sex,
lying and intoxicants – in order to
be reborn human.
The realm of man also offers one
other aspect lacking in the other
five planes, an opportunity to
achieve enlightenment, or Nirvana
SAMSARA –CONT’D (DEVA)
It
is a heaven for those who are wise and
kind as the retribution for their good
deed
If ordinary people want to qualify for
ascension to the heavens, they have to
practice and perfect the Wholesome
Actions:
Avoidance of killing, stealing, adultery,
lying, filthy language, coarse language,
greed, anger, and delusion
ASSESSMENT
Use concepts from Christianity
to counteract Samsara.
BUDDHISTS’ SYMBOLS
Eight-spoked
Wheel is the main
symbol of Buddhism. Its eight
spokes are a reminder that the
teachings of the Buddha are
summed up in the eight-fold path.
This sets out the middle way – the
life lived between a life of luxury
and a life of self denial.
THE EIGHT-SPOKED WHEEL
SYMBOLS - CONT’D
The
Buddha The statute of the
Buddha is the most important
symbol, always having Buddhist
meditating in front of it.
SYMBOLS - CONT’D
The
Buddha is often shown
adopting the lotus position,
which is the thumb and first
finger of one hand forming a
circle.
This symbolizes the first teaching
that he gave to his followers after
he was enlightened.
SYMBOLS - CONT’D
A
bump at the top of his head
shows that he has been given
special powers.
A
third eye in the middle of his
forehead, symbolizes the belief
that he has unique spiritual
insight.
SYMBOLS - CONT’D
Long ear lobes showed that he
came from a royal and important
family.
His curled hair indicates that he
was a holy man before and after he
was enlightened.
SYMBOLS CONT’D
The Lotus Flower
 The root of this flower grows in
muddy water, but the petals rise up
out of the water and opens towards
the sun. It symbolizes the growth of
every Buddhist towards spiritual
fulfilment.
SYMBOLS - CONT’D
Worshippers
sometimes cup
their hand as they pray to
symbolize the lotus flower.
SYMBOLS –
CONT’D
Lotuses
are symbols of purity and
‘spontaneous’ generation and hence
symbolize divine birth. They are
usually differentiated by their colour.
The
white lotus – symbolizes Bodhi,
the state of total mental purity and
spiritual perfection. It generally has
eight petals corresponding to the
Noble Eightfold Path.
SYMBOLS – CONT’D
The
Red lotus – symbolizes the
original nature of the heart. (love,
compassion, passion)
Blue lotus – is the symbol of the
victory of the spirit over senses, of
intelligence and wisdom, of
knowledge. It is always represented
as a partially opened bud, and
(unlike the red lotus) its centre is
never seen.
SYMBOLS – CONT’D
Pink
lotus – This the
supreme lotus, generally
reserved for the highest deity,
it is the lotus of the historical
Buddha.
SYMBOLS – CONT’D
Purple
lotus – This is the
mystic lotus. The eight petals
represent the Noble Eightfold
Path. The flowers may also be
depicted presented in a cup or
on a tray, as a symbol of
homage.
ASSESSMENT
Identify & explain some
Christian symbols.
FESTIVALS AND SPECIAL DAYS
There
are many special or holy
days held throughout the year
by the Buddhist community
These are held to bring people
together to meditate and learn
about Buddha.
FESTIVALS/SPECIAL DAYS – CONT’D

Buddha Day or VESAK:
The major festival of the year to
celebrate the birth, enlightenment
and death of The Buddha.
Candles decorated with symbols
(wheel of life, bodhi tree and lotus
flower) are used. Some homes are
decorated with candles.
FESTIVALS/SPECIAL DAYS - CONT’D
Rainy Season Retreat
Movement is restricted during the
rains so monks congregate for a
spiritual retreat.
Monks get the things they need for
their existence. When the season is
over the monks go back to their
monasteries to serve the people.
FESTIVALS/SPECIAL DAYS - CONT’D
New Year
This is celebrated for three days, but
differently by each country.
Bells – are rung to cast out wrong
passion making the passage to
enlightenment easier.
Water – the Buddha statue is washed,
people spray each other, rescue fish,
and release birds from cages.
FESTIVALS/SPECIAL DAYS -
CONT’D
Sangha Day
Takes
places in March. This
holy day is observed to
commemorate an important
event which occurred early
in the Buddha’s teaching life.
FESTIVALS/SPECIAL DAYS -
CONT’D
Dhamma Day
This
is designed to pay homage
to the Buddha about July.
It commemorates the Buddha's
first teaching.
FESTIVALS/SPECIAL DAYS - CONT’D
Songkran
People
clean their houses,
wash their clothes and enjoy
sprinkling perfumed water on
the monks, novices and
other people, for at least two
or three days.
FESTIVALS/SPECIAL DAYS -
CONT’D
The Ploughing Festival
In
May, two white oxen pull
a gold painted plough,
followed by four girls dressed
in white who scatter rice
seeds from gold and silver
baskets.
FESTIVALS/SPECIAL DAYS -
CONT’D
The Ploughing Festival
This
is to celebrate the
Buddha's first moment of
enlightenment, which is said
to have happened when the
Buddha was seven years old.
FESTIVALS/SPECIAL DAYS -
CONT’D
The Elephant Festival
Held on the third Saturday in
November.
 The Buddha used the example of a
wild elephant which, when it is
caught, is harnessed to a tame one
for training.
A person new to Buddhism should
have a special friendship of one
FESTIVALS/SPECIAL DAYS - CONT’D
The Festival of the Tooth
A great temple which was
especially built to house a relic
of the Buddha - his tooth.
The tooth can never be seen, as
it is kept deep inside a casket.
However, once a year, (August)
there is a special procession for
it.
FESTIVALS/SPECIAL DAYS - CONT’D
Ancestor Day
It is believed that the gates of Hell
are opened so that ghosts may visit
the world for fifteen days. Food
offerings are made during this
time to relieve the sufferings of
these ghosts.
People visit cemeteries to make
offerings to the departed ancestors.
ASSESSMENT
Do Christians celebrate
special days? Explain.
DEVOTIONAL PRACTICES
Buddhist Shrines and Images
Buddha images have been the
object of Buddhist devotion and
identify for over 2000 years,
acting as the inspirational focus
and the means for devotees to
express their reverence and
gratitude for the Buddha's
Dharma or Teachings.
DEVOTIONAL PRACTICES
Buddhist Shrines and Images
When Buddhists pass by a
shrine in their homes or visit
a temple, and see the
peaceful image of the
Buddha, it reminds them that
they can be peaceful too.
DEVOTIONAL PRACTICES - CONT’D
Folded Palms
The palms are placed together
and raised to the level of the
chest.
This gesture expresses deep
reverence to the Triple Gem Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
DEVOTIONAL PRACTICES – CONT’D
Prostration
Prostrating before an image of the
Buddha or members of the Sangha
expresses deep veneration.
This also helps to overcome
egoistic feelings (pride) to become
more ready to listen to the
Teaching of the Buddha.
DEVOTIONAL PRACTICES – CONT’D
Prostration before the Buddha
images, remind of his qualities and
incite respect for them i.e. lovingkindness, compassion, virtue,
patience, concentration and wisdom.

This
is motivation for them to
develop these extraordinary
qualities too.
OFFERINGS
They
make offerings to create
positive energy and develop good
qualities such as giving with a
respectful attitude and
gratitude.
Moreover, the offerings remind
of certain teachings of the
Buddha.
OFFERINGS -
CONT’D
Offering of Light
(Lamp/Candle)
Light
symbolizes wisdom
and drives away darkness.
Similarly, the light of
wisdom dispels the
darkness of ignorance.
OFFERINGS -
CONT’D
Offering of Incense
When
incense is lit, its
fragrance spreads.
Incense symbolizes the
fragrance of pure moral
conduct which each wants
to cultivate.
OFFERINGS -
CONT’D
Offering of Water
Water symbolizes purity, clarity
and calmness.
Thus a reminder to practise the
Buddha's teachings, so as to
cleanse the mind, which is full of
desire, ill-will and ignorance;
and so attain the state of purity.
OFFERINGS -
CONT’D
Offering of Fruit
Fruit
symbolizes the ultimate
fruit of Enlightenment which
is the goal.
It also reminds that all
actions will have their effect.
OFFERINGS - CONT’D
Offering of Flowers
This reminds of the Buddha's
teaching that all things are
impermanent.
Place value on what is possessed
now and live in the present. As
things will soon fade and become
useless.
WORSHIP
Buddhists
can worship both
at home or at a temple.
 It is not considered essential
to go to a temple to worship
with others.
WORSHIP - CONT’D
At home
Buddhists will often set aside a
room or a part of a room as a shrine.
There will be a statue of Buddha,
candles, and an incense burner.
WORSHIP -
CONT’D
Temples
All Buddhist temples contain
an image or a statue of
Buddha.
WORSHIP -
CONT’D
Worshippers
may sit on the floor
barefoot, facing an image of
Buddha and chanting. They will
listen to monks chanting from
religious texts, perhaps
accompanied by instruments,
and take part in prayers.
WORSHIP -
CONT’D
Mantras
A mantra is a word, a syllable,
a phrase or a short prayer that
is spoken once or repeated over
and over again and that is
thought to have a profound
spiritual effect on the person.
WORSHIP - CONT’D
Prayer
Aids
It's common to use prayer beads to
mark the number of repetitions of a
mantra. Mantras may also be
displayed on a prayer wheel and
repeated by spinning the wheel, or
written on a prayer flag - in which
case the prayer is repeated each
time the flag moves in the wind.
ASSESSMENT
Give one word for each term:
1. Actions & deeds from mental intent
that bring results
2. Doctrine of continuous death &
rebirth
3. Insight into things as they really are
4. Control of the mind
5. Place for those who commit the
deadly sins
ASSESSMENT
Give
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
one word for each term:
A state of punishment for greed
The state characterised by
stupidity
Collective term for demons
Heaven for those who are wise &
kind
Physical life & bodily warmth are
intact
CHRISTIAN LINK
What
offerings are
Christians expected to make?
How are Christians expected
to worship? Use biblical
examples.
What part does prayer play
in the life of a Christian?
HOMEWORK/ASSIGNMENT
Indicate in writing any
question you may have on
Buddhism.
(Due date May 27, 2012)
THANKS FOR
YOUR
PARTICIPATION
UNTIL NEXT
WEEK
BE BLESSED!!