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Buddhism
Sanskrit “Budh” – to awake
Life of
Siddhartha
Gautama
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Mix of fact and legends – miraculous
birth, Jataka tales
Born 563 B.C. in North India
Son of powerful nobleman
Prophecy at birth – Conqueror or
Redeemer.
Luxurious Upbringing. Wife and son.
“Four Passing Sights”
Old Age
 Disease
 Death
 Renunciation
 At 29, Siddhartha
renounces worldly
life.
 The “Great Going
Forth.”
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Six Year Quest
Studied with raja and
jnana yogis
 Later, incorporated
Hindu teachings
 Joined Ascetics
 Starvation led to
doctrine of Middle
Way.
 None of these
disciplines brought
enlightenment
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The Bodhi Tree
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Finally, sat under “Bo
tree” (bodhi =
“enlightenment).
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“The Immovable Spot.”
Siddhartha vowed to
not leave until
enlightened.
Sensing breakthrough,
Mara sent tortures and
temptations.
9th Century Bengali-Indian Statue
10th Century
Chinese Silk
Painting
2nd/3rd Century CE
Gandharan Relief
The Sacred Boddhi
tree in 2004 CE. The
tree is a descendant
of the actual tree
under which Buddha
reached
enlightenment.
Siddhartha
Becomes
Buddha
Achieves Nirvana.
-- Freedom from
suffering and samsara
-- “blossoming of
wisdom”
“Ten thousand galaxies shuddered in awe
as lotuses bloomed on every tree, turning
the entire universe into a bouquet of
flowers set whirling through the air.”
Rooted in bliss for 49 days to
“Immovable Spot.”
Buddha’s Work
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Resists temptation to rest
in Nirvana
Instead travels Northern
India teaching, begging,
meditating, counseling.
Founds order of monks
and nuns. Sangha.
Dies at age of 80.
1st Sermon at Deer Park
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5 ascetics
“First Turn of the
Wheel of the
Dharma”
“Dharma” in
Buddhism = law,
doctrine
Flower Sermon
Basic Beliefs
The Four Noble Truths
– existence is suffering ( dukhka - dislocation)
– suffering is caused by craving ( tanha - thirst)
– there is a cessation of suffering (nirvana –
blowing out, as of a flame)
– there is a path to the cessation of suffering: the
"eightfold path“
Basic Practices
The Eightfold path
–
–
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right views
right resolve
right speech
right action
 (Five precepts: Do not kill, steal, lie, be unchaste or
become intoxicated.)
– right livelihood
– right effort
– right mindfulness
– right concentration
Also implied: right association
Differences with
Hinduism
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Rejected traditions and authority – Ridiculed
Brahmins, castes, Vedas, traditions. “Be lamps
unto yourselves.”
“Noble Silence” – Avoids “thicket of theorizing”
about God/gods.
Annica – “Impermanence” is essential nature of
reality
Anatman – central teaching of non-self
– no independently existent, unchangeable self, or Atman,
can be found
– All phenomena subject to inevitable decay and cessation
Shared Heritage with
Hinduism
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Belief in Karma, some form of
reincarnation.
Emphasis on self-discipline and taming
the mind.
“Like a fish out of water, thrown on dry ground, this mind thrashes
about…” The Buddha
“Restless the mind is, so strongly shaken in the grip of the senses, truly I
think the wind is no wilder.” Arjuna
Rebirth
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Different than in Hinduism: no Atman to move from body
to body
The self is made up of skandas or ‘skeins.’ Picture each
person as a bundle of strings. These are the five
aggregates:
- Matter
- Sensation
- Perception
- Ideas
- Consciousness
These diverse energies, insofar as they remain attached to
world, continue after death, but not in any unified ‘Self.’
Metaphor: Burnt cloth continues as smoke, ash, heat.
Anatman Explained
Since we are all
 a composite or combination of diverse
strands (skandas),
 inextricably interconnected (Dep
Orig’n),
 and absolutely impermanent
(annica)…
 the “Self” is an illusion. Not only
false, this notion is the source of our
suffering
Cosmology: Dependent
Origination
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Universe is all one, and everything depends on
everything else.
Metaphor: Indra’s Net (Imagine an infinite spiderweb with
drops of dew, each reflecting one another)
“A piece of bread contains a cloud. Without
a cloud, the wheat cannot grow. So when
you eat the piece of bread, you eat the
cloud, you eat the sunshine, you eat the
minerals, time, space, everything.” Thich
Nhat Hanh, Going Home: Jesus and Buddha
as Brothers.
Nirvana
Sanskrit literally “to
extinguish” (a flame.)
 Buddha himself refused
to provide “preview.”
 Arhat – A “worthy one”
who has reached
Nirvana.
 All identification with
finite experience
disappears – the
“dewdrop slips into the
ocean.”
 Most “religious” feature
of Buddhism.
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Buddhist History
After Buddha’s death, Buddhism
splits into two major schools by 1st
Century B.C.E.
Boddhidharma, Indian Monk who spread Buddhism
to China and founded Zen Buddhism (Mahayana)
Mahayana – “The Big Raft”
- Bigger: 200 million today. Practiced in China,
Taiwan, Korea, Tibet, Vietnam, Japan
- Attempt to make Buddhism accessible to lay
people, not only monks.
- Embraced folk religions, innovations, added
Sutras to the Pali Canon.
- Inspired by Buddha’s compassion
 ideal of the boddhisattva: One who returns to
work for enlightenment of all sentient beings.
- Buddha as cosmic being and object of worship
- Spread to China. Advantage: downplayed
social/political message, focused on spiritual
Theravada – “The Way of the
Elders.”
100 million. Practiced today in Sri Lanka and
most of Southeast Asia (Burma, Cambodia,
Laos, Thailand.)
- Political vision of Buddhism focused on
sangha. Prospered in countries receptive
to this vision.
- Loyal to Pali Canon -- original teachings of
Buddha -- attainment of Nirvana,
monkhood. Suspicious of innovation.
 Unlike Mahayana, has remained unified
for 2,500 years.
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Therevada
Mahayana
Emancipation through Self-effort
w/o Supernatural Aid
Support of Divine Powers and
Grace
Key Virtue: Wisdom
Key Virtue: Compassion
Focus: Monks and Nuns
Focus: Lay-people
Ideal: Arhat who
remains in Nirvana
Buddha = supreme
teacher
Little Metaphysics and
Ritual
Centers on Meditation
Ideal: Boddhisattva
who returns for others
Buddha = immortal
savior
Very much metaphysics
and ritual
Petitionary prayer