Download Buddhism: Facts and Terms

Buddhism: Facts and Terms
Number of Buddhists worldwide: circa 350 million; 98% live in Asia—Mahayana Buddhism
(“Northern Buddhism”) 62%; Theravada Buddhism (“Southern Buddhism”) 38%
Buddhists are in majority of population in countries of Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos,
Cambodia, Japan and have significant minority representation in Nepal, China, South Korea, and
Singapore
Circa 700,000 monks and nuns worldwide; men outnumber women 6-1
Founded by: Siddhartha, 563-483 BCE (son of a warrior-caste parents in the Himalayan foothills
of northern India); as such Buddhism has its roots in Hinduism (hence you will note similar
terms and concepts at points, e.g., karma, reincarnation, dharma); his life is the paradigm for the
individual Buddhists quest for enlightenment
Siddhartha after embracing an ascetic life of questing after enlightenment is known by a number
of names including:
Buddha (because he ultimately found enlightenment under the bo/bodhi “enlightenment”
tree)
Gautama Buddha (using his family surname)
Shakyamuni/muni “the sage” (using his family’s clan name, Shakyas)
Dharma—ultimate truth and the teachings that lead to it
Stupas—relic mound shrine which are pilgrimage sites for Buddhists
Sangha—“monastic community”—a key feature of Buddhist societies where devout men and
women renounce the world to live a life devoted to the teachings of Buddhism, meditation and
the performance of rituals; lay Buddhists can gain merit through making donations to the sangha
Buddhists societies typically marked out by: relic shrines as centers of community ritual and
economy; monasteries as refuges for meditation, study, and access to material resources; and
sangha members who assumed leadership roles in the community’s spiritual instruction and
ritual life
Conversion to Buddhism—accomplished by reciting the following (also used to affirm devotion
and start rituals):
Buddham Saranam Gacchami “I go to refuge in the Buddha”
Dharmam Saranam Gacchami “I go to refuge in the teachings”
Sangham Saranam Gacchami “I go for refuge in the community”
Nirvana—a state in which desires are extinguished, it represents escape from the world of
ongoing rebirth and suffering; it can be achieved through moral living and meditation, ultimately
the cultivation of prajna “insight”
Four Noble Truths (earliest and most enduring formulation of Buddha’s teaching)
1. All life entails suffering
Response: make most of spiritual opportunities of a human birth by showing
compassion and kindness to alleviate suffering of all beings
2. The cause of suffering is desire
Makes plain the need for renunciation, detachment and asceticism
3. Removing desire removes suffering
The sangha is the ultimate refuge for individuals who wish to remove themselves
from the world of desire
4. The way for removing desire is to follow the Eightfold Path
The cure for the human condition (the constant cycle of rebirth, suffering and
redeath) is achieved through moral practice, meditation, and the cultivation of the prajna, the
progressive path to nirvana
Eightfold Path
1. Right Views (especially of the Four Noble Truths)
2. Right Thought (thought shaped by detachment from hatred and cruelty)
3. Right Speech (refrains from lies, gossip, and frovility)
4. Right Action (no killing, stealing, and harming)
5. Right Livelihood (not earning a living through astrology, magic or careers that inflict
harm or kill)
6. Right Effort (to clear and calm mind)
7. Right Mindfulness (Buddhist meditation that observes clearly the mind and body and
cultivates detachment)
8. Right Concentration (advanced meditation that attains the mastery of trance states)
Typically categorized as follows:
Morality (Shila)—Right Speech, Action, and Livelihood
Meditation (Dhyana)—Right Effort, Mindfulness and Concentration
Insight (Prajna)—Views and Thoughts
Karma—a doctrine of destiny; carries from over from one life to the next, the “karma calculus”
can be changed through making new punya (“merit”) or pap (“demerit”)
Lay Buddhists most influenced by doctrine of “Four Conditions” and “Four Good Deeds”
Four Conditions (to seek): 1. Wealth (by legal means), 2. Good renown in society, 3. Long life,
4. Birth in Heaven
Four Good Deeds (to use wealth for): 1. Make family and friends happy, 2.ensure security
against worldly dangers, 3.make offerings to family, friends, gods, and ghosts, 4. support worthy
religious people