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Buddhism
Thurs 4th Nov
So far we have learnt:
• Buddha’s life…..
• The Three Marks of Existence…
Today we are going to
look at:
The Four
Noble
Truths!
• Our SELF finds it difficult to
cope with everything constantly
changing so it tries to find
something permanent. As this is
impossible we search on in vain
creating energy called Karma.
This energy is passed on at the
end of each life to begin a new
life.
• It is as though we are candles,
burning down slowly. At the end of
our life our flame is passed on to a
new candle. There is nothing of the
old candle in the new candle
except the energy which
continues after death to a
new life. This "rebirth" is
called Samsara.
• It is the goal of Buddhism to
escape from the constant
searching of Samsara and find
peace and contentment. This
feeling of peace is called
Nirvana or "no moving". It is a
state of total peace and
harmony which comes with true
enlightenment. But to achieve
this peace we must control our
SELF and realise that our SELF
doesn't even exist.
• To realise that our SELF doesn't
really exist is not easy for our
minds to get used to. To really
understand it we need to go on
a kind of journey. But this
journey is not like the
journeys we make to
go places. It is an
inward journey. It is a
journey into our mind
and soul.
• It is only when we understand what
we are and what we are really like
that we will begin to understand
anything else about what Life is
really like. The Buddha knew how
difficult this was and
so gave his followers
a kind of map for the
journey. This explains
all the steps which we
need to take to reach
Nirvana.
The Buddha described
them by giving four
points.
They are called the
FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS.
1. Understanding the
Problem:
Life is full of suffering
2. Knowing what causes
it:
Suffering is due to SELFish
desires
3. Knowing how to cure it:
Suffering will stop if these
SELFish desires stop
4. Prescribe the cure:
The way to stop SELFish
desires is to follow the
Middle Way and the
Eightfold Path
To put it another way:
Wanting too much
= disappointment
= unhappiness
= suffering
If we stop wanting too
much, we won't be
disappointed. Then we
won't be unhappy and
suffering will stop.
Add these words to your
glossary:
• Tanha – this is the Buddhist
word for craving
• Magga – the Middle Way
between luxury and deprivation
Task 1:
• Complete the Question sheet
Task 2:
• Read Buddhism A New
Approach P22-23 and answer
the questions on P23