Transcript nov 21 – no class, break for thanksgiving

Who is my Neighbor?
A study of
world religions
October 24,
2012
First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh
Week 2: What is a Cult? OCT. 10 - Megan
• Scholarly vs. Popular Definition
• Common Traits
• Examples
Week 3: Hinduism Brief History OCT. 17 – Megan (Kittie will contribute TM
materials)
• Vedas
• Shaivas, Vaishnavas, Goddess followers
• Beliefs & Practice
Week 4: Buddhism OCT 24 – Megan
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Brief History
Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana
4 Truths, Eight-fold Path
Mahayana Sects (Zen/Chan, Pure Land, etc.)
Beliefs & Practice
Week 5: "Minor" Religions OCT. 31 - Megan
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Zoroastrianism
Sikhism
Jainism
Taoism
Shinto
Week 6: Judaism NOV. 7 – Kittie
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Brief history
Ancient vs. Modern
Orthodox vs. Reformed
Beliefs and Practices
Week 7: Christianity NOV. 14 - Kittie
• Brief History
• Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Other
• Beliefs & Practice
NOV 21 – NO CLASS, BREAK FOR THANKSGIVING
Week 8: Islam NOV. 28 - Kittie
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Brief History
Four pillars
Shiite vs. Sunni
Sufism
Week 9: New Religions (post 1800) DEC. 5 - Kittie
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Mormonism
Jehovah's Witnesses
Scientology
Neo-Paganism/Wicca
Various New Asian Religions
Week 10: Overview/Summary: What Does All This Mean for Christians?
 Buddhism is the 4th largest religion in the world.
 Estimated number of Buddhists range from 250-500
million members.
 There are three main branches of Buddhism:
Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana.
 There are a number of different sects in each of the three
branches.
 There are approximately 1.2 million Buddhists in the
United States.
 There are about a dozen different Buddhist groups in
Pittsburgh.
 Most are Tibetan Buddhist (Vajrayana) or Soto Zen (a
Japanese Mahayana sect).
 There is also one Theravada temple, the Pittsburgh
Buddhist Center (below).
From the Buddha to the present
 Born as Siddhartha Gautama c.
563 BCE in what is now Nepal
 Various legends about his birth
 Prophecy by a sage that he
would either become a great
king or a holy man, so his father
kept him in the palace to ensure
he would become a king.
Eventually he got out of the
palace and saw four things: an
old man, a sick man, a dead
man, and a holy man.
 At first, Siddhartha followed
stringent asceticism, but did not
get anything out of it.
 After this, he dedicated himself to
meditation, sat beneath a fig tree
and vowed not to get up until he
reached enlightenment.
 After reaching enlightenment, he
began teaching others. His first
sermon was given at a deer park.
 Died/reached parinirvana at
the age of 80, after eating some
mushrooms prepared for him
by a lay devotee
 After the death of the Buddha, his followers gathered
to preserve his teachings.
 These teachings were passed down orally until they
were written down during the Fourth Buddhist
Council in 29 BCE.
 Sri Lanka had been hit with famine, and they had
realized the need to write down the dharma in case the
monks who knew it died.
 The writings became the Tripitaka (lit. ‘three baskets’,
aka the Pali Canon).
 King Ashoka (273-232 BCE)
experienced terrible regret over
his bloody conquest of the
kingdom of Kalinga, and
converted to Buddhism.
 He erected pillars expounding the
dharma all over his kingdom and
built stupas containing relics of
the Buddha all over India.
 He sent the first missionaries
outside India to Sri Lanka and
possibly the Mediterranean.
 From Sri Lanka, Buddhism spread to Burma and
Thailand.
 By the first century CE, Mahayana Buddhism had
been developed and spread from India to Southeast
Asia, and to China, Korea, and Japan.
 In the modern day, Buddhism has spread from East
Asia throughout the world, both by emigration and
proselytization.
Bodhi, dharma, and nirvana
 Buddhists believe in an eternal universe
 Buddhism is non-theistic: it does not have a creator
god
 For these reasons, Buddhism often identifies itself as
science-friendly, because it has no theological qualms
with evolution
 Conceive of time as cyclical – following the emergence
of a buddha, there is a time of great time of the
dharma flourishing, followed by a time of the dharma
in decline, followed by a long period of time when the
dharma is lost, at which point a new buddha emerges.
 Anatman – lit. ‘no soul’, contrary to Hinduism,
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Buddhists do not believe in a soul which is reborn.
Arhat – a living person who has achieved
enlightenment.
Bodhi – enlightenment
Dharma – right doctrine
Lama – a Tibetan teacher/master equivalent to ‘guru’
Mantra – a chant used to help one attain
enlightenment
 i.e. Om mani padme hum
 Mudra – a hand gesture held in meditation; the
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Buddha is often depicted with different mudras which
have specific meanings
Nirvana – lit. ‘to extinguish’, achieving final
enlightenment and exiting samsara
Prajna – wisdom
Sangha – a community of Buddhist monks and
practitioners
Sutra – a Buddhist scripture
Theravada, Vajrayana, and Mahayana
 Holds the Tripitaka as
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authoritative
Emphasizes monasticism for
reaching nirvana
Predominant in Sri Lanka and
southeast Asia
Monastic practice includes
meditation
Lay practice focuses on ‘merit
making’: preparing food for the
monks, donating to temples,
burning incense to the
Buddha, and chanting verses
from the Pali Canon
 Means ‘Lightning Vehicle’
 Scriptures are called ‘tantras’
 Dates to the 7th or 8th century CE
 Dominant in Tibet and Mongolia
 Goal is to become a Bodhisattva,
akin to a Christian saint, one who
is moved by compassion for all
sentient beings to attain
Buddhahood.
 Esoteric teachings are passed
down from teacher to student
 A ‘tulku’ is a high-raking lama who
can determine the manner of his next
rebirth
 There are perhaps as many as 500 in
Tibet
 The two most well-known are the
Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama
 The current Dalai Lama is the 14th
 After escaping Tibet, he has lived in
exile in India
 There has been controversy over the
succession of the Panchen Lama
 Means ‘Great Vehicle’
 Largest school of Buddhism
 Dates to the beginning of the Common Era
 Claims to be superior to other schools; accepts parts of
the earlier Canon as well as later texts
 Does not accept the arhat as the final enlightenment
 Leads to Bodhisattva status instead
 Considers seeking attainment as an arhat to be selfish;
one should seek enlightenment for the sake of all
sentient being
 Known as ‘Chan’ in China, introduced to Japan in the 12th
century
 Two main sects: Soto and Rinzai
 Soto emphasizes zazen (seated meditation) only
 Rinzai embraces zazen as well as koans and other aids to achieve
enlightenment
 A koan is a statement which forces one to think and has no definite
answer, i.e.: “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”
 Founded by Shinran in the early 13th
century.
 Is the largest religious sect in Japan
(20% of the population)
 Emphasizes faith over works
 ‘Cat faith’ versus ‘monkey faith’
 Shinran focused on the ability of lay
people to be reborn in Amida’s
paradise
 Married and had children