Download C L A SM Buddhism

Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world, in terms
of numbers of followers. It does not concentrate on paying
homage to gods. Instead, Buddhists meditate and act in
ways to gain enlightenment. Most adherents believe people
are reincarnated and that what people do in this life creates
karma, or fate, which will affect their next life. The aim is
to attain nirvana, a state of mind that is free from desire
and therefore free from suffering caused by desire.
The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, was a
Nepalese prince who became known as the Buddha,
after spending years on a spiritual quest.
Enlightened One
Buddha means the enlightened or awakened one.
Although the name Buddha specifically refers to
Gautama, who achieved enlightenment about 2500
years ago, it also refers to anybody who attains such
enlightenment. The historical Buddha is usually
written with a capital B or he is
called “Shakyamuni Buddha’’,
meaning the enlightened
man of the Shakya clan.
According to Buddhism,
we are all capable of
becoming a buddha.
Buddhism
Life of the Buddha:
The early days
According to legend the Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini, Nepal, some time
in the 6th century BC. Traditionally the year of his birth is 563BC. In one legend his mother,
Queen Maya, dreamed of a white elephant and later a child sprang miraculously from her
side. Seven days later she died. Siddhartha’s father, King Suddhodana of the Shakya clan, kept
Siddhartha within his palace in his kingdom of Kapilavastu, shielding him from pain, death,
ageing and suffering, giving him luxuries and pleasures. At 16, Siddhartha married Princess
Yashodhara (pictured, below left); they later had a son. At 29,
Siddhartha went outside the palace for the first time. He decided to
leave his privileged life and find out why life involved suffering.
Siddhartha’s quest
The prince left his palace, cut off his hair, put on simple robes
and lived by begging. A yogi, or teacher, taught him meditation but
he overtook his teacher’s abilities and left to find a way of going
further. He tried starving himself and enduring pain, heat
and cold. When this provided no answers he ate again,
accepting rice pudding from a girl. He vowed to sit
under a tree and meditate until he found the answer.
Monks
Famous Buddhists
The world’s most famous Buddhist is the Dalai Lama. Born
Lhamo Döndrub in 1935, he is believed to be a reincarnation
of a great medieval teacher and founder of a Buddhist
monastery. The King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, is also
a prominent Buddhist. In the West, Buddhism began to be
adopted by intellectuals in the 20th century, such as English
barrister Christmas Humphreys.
In the 1950s American beat
poet Allen Ginsberg and author
Jack Kerouac adopted Buddhist
ideas. US movie star Richard
Gere (right) is perhaps the
West’s best-known Buddhist,
but director George Lucas,
the creator of Star Wars,
also espouses Buddhist
philosophies.
Worshippers
gather in
Hong Kong
to mark
Buddha’s
birthday
Under the tree
Six years after leaving the palace,
Siddhartha sat under a bodhi tree and
decided the nature of human life was
ruled by suffering or dissatisfaction caused by desire. As he was
thinking of this Mara, the demon of desire, sent his minions to
tempt Siddhartha but their weapons turned to flowers. Mara also sent
his daughters to try to seduce the meditating man. But Siddhartha
resisted. Mara melted away and Siddhartha became the Buddha.
The eightfold path
The path to nirvana is known as the eightfold path.
It requires a person to:
death of the Buddha
1
Believing in compassion, the Buddha wandered teaching. His first
adherents were five men with whom he had practised self-denial
and self-mortification. The Buddha established monasteries
across India and gathered followers. He taught into his 80s
until he died after eating a meal of pork. As he was dying, he
told his followers to remember him by making pilgrimages to
the places of his birth, the place of his enlightenment,
where he first taught and the place of his death.
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After the Buddha died, one person who
popularised the religion was Ashoka
(323-304 BC). He was a warrior ruler
but he renounced violence and turned
to Buddhism in an effort to ease the
suffering of his subjects. Over the next
few centuries, Buddhism spread into
China, Korea, Japan, Cambodia, Laos,
Vietnam, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and
Indonesia. Buddhism became known to
the West as early as the 4th century BC,
through Macedonian Greek armies in India
under Alexander, but it was not until the
20th century that it began to spread to Western nations.
Have the right view, to see that suffering underpins existence and to be wise enough to want to do
something about it
the right intentions or thoughts, replacing anger 2 Have
with compassion, selfishness with generosity and ignorance with wisdom
in the right way, speaking truth, without harm
3 Speak
or malice and speaking only things that are beneficial
to others
in the correct way – that is, to help rather than
4 Act
harm others
Buddhism spreads
Live the right kind of life – that is, to work for the benefit
5
of others, not to the detriment of others (including animals) and not just for selfish reasons
the right effort to avoid negative states of mind
6 Exert
and prevent them from arising
Prayer
The role of prayer in Buddhism is not to pay homage to a deity, nor to
ask a god for favours, but to honour your own Buddha nature – that is,
to see all of the things inside yourself that can make you enlightened
like the Buddha – such as composure, compassion,
wisdom and generosity.
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Did you know?
The Dalai Lama
Teachings
At Sarnath, in northern India, Buddha is said
to have set the wheel of the dharma (system)
in motion, as he introduced his teachings.
Buddha delivered them orally and later his followers
wrote them in collections known as sutras. In the sutras
Buddha spoke of the “four noble truths’’. The first is that suffering,
longing or dissatisfaction is a part of life. Secondly, suffering is caused
by desire, cravings or attachment, although some versions of the
sutras also identify negative actions as causing suffering. The third
truth is that a person achieves a cessation of suffering. Fourthly, the
path to the cessation has eight steps (see The eightfold path) which
involve thinking and acting in a way that moves
a person towards nirvana.
A
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Basics of Buddhism
Image
courtesy
of the
exhibition
One Hundred
Flowers,
at the Art
Gallery Of
NSW until
January 2,
2012
SS M A
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B
uddhism is a major religion and
thought system practised by millions
of people. It originated in what is today
Nepal and spread through India and
then around the world, increasing in
popularity in the Western world over the past
century. It differs from most major religions in
that it does not stress belief in a creator god but
encourages questioning and the search for inner
peace. Like most other major religions, it has an
influential prophet or founder and has certain
codes of behaviour. Also as with other religions,
there are many interpretations of its central
message and many schools of thought. Rituals
vary according to regions. Buddhism, therefore,
may be one religion but it is many different
things to different people.
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awareness of what is happening right now with
7 Have
your mind, body, emotions and thoughts, rather than being lost in regret or fears for the future
focus the attention, try not to be
8 Concentrate,
distracted from the path
n Estimates of the number of Buddhists in the world
range from about 300 million to a billion. Because
it is not the sort of religion that requires any formal
expression of faith, the numbers are
difficult to estimate.
n When Siddhartha’s son was born,
the father had already decided to
leave to go on his spiritual quest but
the boy threatened to hold him back.
So he named the baby Rahula,
meaning “fetter’’
or “impediment’’.
n By touching the ground,
the Buddha affirmed his
connection to the Earth, as
opposed to claiming power
from heavenly sources.
n There are four sites of
pilgrimage for Buddhists:
Lumbini (Nepal), the
place of Siddhartha’s
birth; Bodh Gaya
(India), where he found
enlightenment; Sarnath
(India), where he first taught; and Kusinara (India)
where he died. Buddhists do not have a duty to visit
these places, like Muslims visiting Makkah or Mecca,
but they are places that provide inspiration for
many adherents.
n When the Buddha established his first monastery,
he allowed everyone from every caste (class) in
Indian society to join, as well as women. It showed
a very radical approach for the time.
n Famous Australian Buddhists include actress Tracy
Mann and chef Kylie Kwong. Actress Naomi Watts
once said she had some belief but “I am not
a strict Buddhist or anything yet’’.
Sources & further study
Books
Buddhism For Dummies by Jonathan Landaw and
Stephan Bodian (Wiley)
Buddhism Plain And Simple by Steve Hagen (Penguin)
Why Buddhism by Vicki Mackenzie (Allen & Unwin)
Websites
Buddhist Education and Information Network
www.buddhanet.net
Buddhism Encyclopaedia Britannica
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/
83184/Buddhism
DVD
The Buddha: The Story of Siddhartha, SBS DVD
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