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BUDDHISM NOTES
 Background on Buddhism
Has origins in Hinduism
Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 BC)
Buddha, “Enlightened one”, Sakyamuni
Kshatriya class
Became dissatisfied with settled life and became a wanderer
Abandoned family’s Hindu beliefs in a quest for a more universal,
ultimate enlightenment
Achieved through meditation
 The four noble truths
1. The answer to why people suffer and how suffering can be avoided
2. Pain and suffering, frustration, and anxiety are ugly but inescapable parts of life
3. Suffering and anxiety are caused by the human weaknesses of greed, selfishness, and
egoism
4. People can understand these weaknesses and triumph over them
Triumph is made possible by following the “Eightfold path”
 The eightfold path
Gives eight steps for living a correct or right life
1. Clear understanding of the pain and misery of one’s life
2. Decide to free oneself from suffering
3. “Right conduct”
4. “Right speech”- a way of living in which one practices the virtues of love and
compassion, joy, and serenity in daily life
5. “Right livelihood”- a means of earning a living that does not interfere with the
attainment of ultimate enlightenment
6. “Right endeavor”- conscious effort to eliminate distracting and harmful
desires- Recognizing that nothing and no one is permanent
7. “Right awareness” – constant contemplation of one’s deeds and words, giving
full thought to their importance and whether or not they lead to enlightenment
8. “Right contemplation”- deep meditation on the impermanence of everything in
the world
 NIRVANA
A state of happiness gained by the extinction of self and desires and the release
from the effects of karma
 Karma
Deeds a person performs during his or her lifetime
 Enlightenment
When a person is finally free from further rebirth with all its earthly suffering
 Believed that anyone could follow the Eightfold path
Rejected the caste system
 Gods
Placed little emphasis on gods
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Source: According to Buddhist tradition, “The Four Noble Truths,” the first sermon
preached by the Buddha (563 B.C.E.-483 B.C.E.), India, fifth century B.C.E.
The First Noble Truth is the Noble Truth of Sorrow. Birth is sorrow, age is sorrow,
disease is sorrow, death is sorrow, contact with the unpleasant is sorrow, separation
from the pleasant is sorrow, every wish unfulfilled is sorrow.
The Second Noble Truth is the Noble Truth of the Arising of Sorrow; it arises from
craving, which leads to rebirth, which brings delight and passion, and seeks pleasurethe craving for sensual pleasure, the craving for continued life, and the craving for
power.
The Third Noble Truth is the Noble Truth of the Stopping of Sorrow. It is the complete
stopping of that craving, so that no passion remains, leaving it, being emancipated from
it, being released from it, giving no place to it.
The Fourth Noble Truth is the Noble Truth of the Way that Leads to the Stopping of
Sorrow.
The Buddha
1. Elongated Earlobes: Result of wearing heavy golden earrings. Upon
Enlightenment, the earrings were removed, but the symbol remains to
remind others to renounce attachment to worldly possessions
2. Topknot or bulge on top of the head: this is not a headdress but an
expansion of his brain to accommodate Enlightenment
3. Short curled hair: this shortness came after cutting his long hair, which
was considered a sign of vanity
4. Whirl of hair or knob on the forehead: this mark is a kind of third eye to
show omniscience
5. Webbed fingers: this webbing, legend has it, represents a net to gather
in his followers
6. Lotus rosettes on the hands and feet: the lotus is a symbol of purity and
beauty since it can blossom even in the mud
7. Position of the hands: the position of the hands changes in
representations of the Buddha and illustrate various acts- meditation,
prayer, teaching, argumentation
8. Slimness of the figure: this slimness is in sharp contrast to the
students’ preconceived ideas of the Buddha; this illustrates the Buddha’s
ability to survive on a subsistence diet
9. The smile: this expression depicts Buddha as a benign and gentle
figure
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