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Buddhism: Seeking Detachment and
Nirvana
Background of Buddhism
The “middle way of wisdom and compassion”
Derived from Hinduism, but rejects certain beliefs
and practices of Hinduism.
A 2500 year old tradition that began in India and
spread and diversified throughout the Far East
A philosophy and spiritual practice followed by
more than 300 million people
Based on the teachings of the Buddha
How does Buddhism differ
from Hinduism?
Buddhism rejects…
Authority of the ancient Vedic texts
The Vedic caste system
The Vedic and Hindu deities—Buddhism is not
deistic
The efficacy of Vedic worship and ritual
The concept of Brahman—Buddhism is not
theistic
Who was the Buddha?
Born Siddhartha Gautama – of noble
caste in India, 563 B.C.E.
Raised in great luxury to be a king
Empathy for the suffering of others; at age 29, rejected
the life of luxury to seek enlightenment and the solution
to suffering
Followed a strict ascetic lifestyle for six years
• Rejected this extreme, sat in meditation, claimed to
achieve Nirvana – an awakening to the truth about life,
becoming a Buddha, the “Awakened One”at the age of
35
Spent the remaining 45 years of his life teaching others
how to achieve the peace of mind he had achieved
What did the Buddha teach?
The Four Noble Truths:
Suffering Exists (Life is Suffering): Humans sleep away their lives
in self-centered preoccupations; this self-centeredness only leads to
pain, misery, sorrow, and unfulfillment.
Desire Causes Suffering:
The need to refer all things to ourselves causes
suffering. We suffer because our ego dupes us into believing that we need
what we desire. Not an illusion, but attachment to the impermanent.
Cessation of Desire Brings the Cessation of Suffering:
Rather
than absorb everything into the ego for our own pleasure, we must allow our
connection with reality to cause an outward flow – a universal compassion
toward all living creatures.
The Eightfold Path Leads to Cessation of Desire:
The observance
of the Eightfold Path is at the heart of the Buddhist life, and leads to
enlightenment and liberation from detachment.
Nirvana,
What is the Eight-Fold Path?
Wisdom: seek truth and resist
self-centeredness
Moral discipline: respect all
•Right motivation
life and work for the good
of others
•Right understanding
•Right speech
•Right action
•Right livelihood
Mental discipline:
free the mind of
egocentrism
•Right effort
•Right mindfulness
•Right meditation
What do Buddhists believe?
• Rebirth (reincarnation) results from attachments (karma)
• Nirvana is a peaceful, detached state of mind
• Achieving Nirvana means escape from the cycle of
death and rebirth, samsara
Once Gautama Buddha died, after 80 years of life in this
world, having achieved Nirvana and teaching multitudes
his way of life, he ceased to exist as a distinct being, no
afterlife; join into the great cosmic energy.
Buddhism is non-theistic: Buddha is not the Buddhist
God – he is just a revered teacher
Buddhist Metaphysics
• Dukkha: life in this world is filled with suffering
• Anicca: everything in this world is impermanent
• Anatman: the self/soul is also impermanent –
there is no eternal, unchanging self (“no soul” –
no atman)
• Suffering is a state of mind – achieve a
balanced, peaceful, detached state of mind and
suffering can be extinguished (Nirvana)
What are some Buddhist texts?
• Tripitaka (the Pali Cannon) – the “Three
Baskets”:
–
–
–
Vinaya (“discipline”) – rules for monastic life
Sutta (“discourse”) – sermons of the Buddha
Abhidhamma (metaphysical “teachings”)
• Dhammapada – collected sayings of the
Buddha
Other texts used by specific schools
What is the Buddhist Self?
There is no continuous, unchanging self; no
“atman.” Self is an-atta, “no-self:”
merely a name for various sensations,
thoughts, and actions
an illusory source of suffering, desire, and
vanity
temporal and ceases to exist at death.
Only aspects of empirical self survives death, mental
elements (abstracted from self-consciousness or ego),
not the entire personality; this energy, if not
liberated, is reborn until it reaches nirvana.