Download Buddhist teachings continued

Buddhist teachings
Buddhist teachings
• Buddhist teachings play the predominant role in
defining the religious life of Buddhism rather than the
Buddha
• Buddhist teachings (Dharma) are difficult to understand
– They are gained through a –profound meditative
experience
• In order to understand them, one must meditate a lot as well
• Buddhism does not depend on a revelation from the
divine for its truths.
• Buddhist truths were discovered through the inward
reflections of a man
– The Buddha
• Everything the Buddha discovered is discoverable in
oneself
• Rather than relying heavenly on faith, Buddhism
emphasizes the development of wisdom
– Making Buddhism the most psychologically oriented
religion
The 3 Marks of Existence
• In Hinduism, the goal is to be liberated
from Samsara and become one with
Brahman- the ultimate reality.
• The Buddha discovered something else:
change:
• Everything is changing
• The Buddha summarizes this changing
nature of reality by noting Three Marks of
Existence:
1. No self (Anatta)
2. Impermanence (Anicca)
3. Suffering (Dukkha)
No-self (Anatta)
• Anatta (no-self)
• Anatta means there is no ultimate reality within, no essence underlying
existence
• Rather than finding Atman, the Buddha found “no-self”
• The essence of Buddhism is, there is no essence
• Example: where were you 10 years ago?
• You simply did not exits 10 yrs. ago
• You simply do not exist now
• You, in the future, will not be the “you” you are now
Impermanence (Anicca)
• Anicca means impermanence
• It focuses on the idea that existence is
constantly changing
• Life is a constant change
• Nothing we experience in life ever remains the
same
• We get used to things – our own face, family,
friends, house, car, neighborhood- that seem
to remain the same but that is an illusion for
they are changing daily
• E.g. a river
– We may perceive the river as a real and
unchanging thing, but actually it is an
ongoing flow, a constant sequence of
change.
– The same occurs to the self: it appears to
be real and unchanging, but in fact it is an
ongoing flow
Suffering (Dukkha)
• Dukkha means suffering
or sorrow but also
dissatisfaction
• It refers to the fact that
life can never be fully
satisfying because of its
inescapable change.
• It is the natural result of
anicca and anatta
• 3 MARKS OF REALITY
ACTIVITY
The four noble truths
•The 4 noble truths are the
creed for Buddhism
•The 4 noble truths lead to
liberation/nirvana
•During the Third Watch of the
night of his enlightenment
Gautama perceived the Four
Noble Truths:
1. To live is to suffer
2. Suffering is caused by
desire
3. Suffering can be brought
to cessation
4. The solution to suffering
is the Noble Eight-fold
path
1st Truth: To live is to suffer (Dukkha)
 Birth, old age, disease,
death
 To live means to
experience anxiety,
loss, and even anguish
 Having a body means
that we can be tired
and sick
 Having a mind means
that we can be
troubled and
discouraged
 The past cannot be
relived and the future
is uncertain
2nd Truth: Suffering comes from desire (Tanha)
• The Buddha saw that
suffering comes from
wanting what we cannot
have and from never
being satisfied with what
we do have
• Tanha can be translated as
desire, thirst, craving
• Some desires are: food,
clothing, friendship,
beauty
• Desire is insatiable
3rd Truth: Suffering has an end
•
this truth goes against Western
notions
• Any kind of attachment will
bring suffering
– Material possession
– Loved ones
• The shaven head and special
clothing of monks and nuns
symbolize their radical
detachment from worldly
concerns
• The essence of this truth is this:
I cannot change the outside
world, but I can change myself
and the way I experience the
world
4th Truth: the solution to end suffering
•
The solution to end suffering is the 8-fold
path:
–
•
•
The way to inner peace
The 8-fold path is represented in Buddhist
art by a wheel with 8 spokes
The 8 steps of the path form a program that
leads to liberation from the impermanence
and suffering of reality.
•
The word right in the following list is a translation
of a word that might better be translated as
correct
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Right views
Right intentions
Right speech
Right conduct
Right livelihood
Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right meditation
Nirvana
• So, if you follow the 8-fold
path, and you end all
desires, then what?
• Nirvana literally means
“blowing out” (ie like a
candle). Nirvana happens
when all desires stop.
• No desires = No more
Karma
• No Karma = No more rebirth.
Nirvana vs. Final Nirvana
• Wait…The Buddha obtained Nirvana by becoming
enlightened. For the next 30-40 years he teaches the dharma,
so we know he continued to exist. If Nirvana means the end
of Karma, why didn’t the Buddha just disappear after
becoming enlightened?
• Answer: Nirvana simply means you stop producing Karma
because he stopped all desires and hence all actions. All
individuals who reach enlightenment still have “residual
karma” they have to “burn up.”
• When that residual Karma is “burned up,” then the
enlightened being can enter into “Final Nirvana” by dying and
not returning to Earth by being reborn.
Buddha dies at age 80
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So, what is this “Final Nirvana?” Is it an afterlife? Will you enjoy it?
The Buddha specifically refused to answer this and many other
philosophical questions concerning God or an afterlife. How could the
Buddha describe something he hadn’t yet done?
The Buddha promised only two things about final nirvana: It was the end
of suffering and the end of re-birth.