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Meeting: Buddhism
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Buddhism has around 376 million followers throughout the world,
with approximately 150,000 active Buddhists in the UK.
This number is increasing all the time.
Buddhism started in India over 2,500 years ago.
The aim of Buddhism is the reaching of enlightenment.
It points to a way of life that avoids self-indulgence and self-denial.
There is no god or deity in Buddhism.
Buddha means 'enlightened'. Siddhattha Gotama, later to become
the Buddha, lived in the 5th century BC and was a prince born into
a rich family. He had an easy life, living in what is now Nepal. !
Meeting: Buddhism
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However, when he saw the suffering of old age, sickness and death,
he decided to leave his life in the palace and live among the holy men
of the day in search of truth and enlightenment.
His search took him six years, but he became enlightened whilst
meditating under a Bodhi tree.
Following this he dedicated his life to spreading the teaching.
The Buddha is not considered a god by his followers.
He discovered that the answer lay in what have become known as the Four Noble Truths.
Craving and desire keep people in the cycle of birth and rebirth,
but it is possible to escape this cycle by following the Four Noble Truths.
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4 Noble Truths
1. Life often—in fact almost always—involves suffering.
This is the key thing Buddhism is interested in.
2. The reason for this suffering is that we want things we can not or do not have.
More important, we become "attached" to those things.
[For example; if you would like an ice cream, that "want" is not a source of suffering.
Becoming "attached" to that "want" is suffering.]
3. The way to cure suffering is to stop the wanting.
Some would argue that a better way would simply be to go get the thing you want.
Buddhists say that we can never get everything we want, because the more
we have, the more we want. [If you stop wanting the ice-cream you stop suffering.]
4. The way to stop wanting is to follow the Noble Eightfold Path,
which does not focus on changing things around us,
but instead it focuses on changing our own mind on how we view things.
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The Noble Eightfold Path
1. Know and understand the Four Noble Truths
2. Give up all worldly things and don't harm others
3. Tell the truth, don't gossip, and don't talk badly about others
4. Don't commit evil acts, like killing, stealing, or living an unclean life
5. Work for good and oppose evil
6. Do rewarding work
7. Make sure your mind keeps your senses under control 8. Practice meditation as a way of understanding reality
How many of these things do you think you could do?
Do you think you would be happier if you were doing those things?
Do you have to be a Buddhist to do these things?
Meeting: Buddhism
What are the main symbols of Buddhism? The main symbols of Buddhism:
The Wheel of Life
The wheel of life which symbolises the cycle of life and rebirth.
The Eightfold Path is also symbolised as a wheel with eight spokes representing the eight laws.
Lotus flowers.
The lotus flower symbolises purity and divine birth.
The different colour lotus flowers have specific meanings: for example, the red lotus
signifies the qualities of the heart while the purple lotus is the mystic lotus.
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Meeting: Buddhism
What is meditation?
Buddhists believe that meditation is crucial to understanding the cause of suffering (the first noble truth).
It is a way to clear the mind of worries and fears, and to see that
suffering is caused by wanting something we cannot have (the second noble truth).
Being free from wanting, wishing and desiring anything is what Buddhism calls the
cessation of suffering (the third noble truth).
To live in this way is the fourth noble truth (the Eightfold Path).
To meditate you need to find a quiet area where you can concentrate.
There are lots of different ways of meditating.
Some people sit on a cushion, with their legs crossed, focusing on the natural breathing.
Others attend classes to learn different techniques and how to meditate for longer sessions.
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Meeting: Buddhism
What rites of passage are there in Buddhism?
At birth: There is no special ceremony to mark the birth of a child in Buddhism
so people generally follow local customs.
Buddhism teaches rebirth, a similar teaching to reincarnation, and the belief that
everyone is influenced by past karma.
Samenera: In some Buddhist countries, sometime between the ages of 8 and 20,
boys enter a monastery for a short time as a Samanera.
They are treated as novices and help run the monastery.
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Meeting: Buddhism
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