Download Rebirth Buddhism - Michael Sudduth

Buddhism
“Everything that arises also passes away, so
strive for what has not arisen.” - Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama
566-486BCE or 484-404BCE
• Born in Kapilavatthu (near
modern day Lumbini, on
the border of Nepal and
India)
• Siddhartha was a prince
and his father a king.
• Lived a sheltered life of
luxury and wealth.
Two Quests
The Ignoble
Quest
The Noble
Quest
The Ignoble Quest
A person who is
What
are like
liablethings
to sickness,
sorrow,this?
old age, and
Transient
Things
death attaches
to
Material
things
liable to the
Possessions
same.
The Noble Quest
A person who is
liable to sickness,
sorrow, old age, and
death, having seen the
danger in this, seeks
the unailing,
sorrowless, unaging,
and deathless.
This unsurpassed
escape from bondage
is nibbana (nirvana).
Embarking upon the noble quest, at age 29
Siddhartha Gautama began studying
meditational techniques under well-known
teachers Alara Kalama and Uddaka
Ramaputta.
After many years Siddhartha
mastered these techniques, but he
still felt unsatisfied.
“This dhamma (teaching) does not
lead to aversion, nor to dispassion,
nor to cessation, nor to calmness, nor
to higher knowledge, nor to
awakening, nor to nibbana. . . .So I
turned away from and abandoned this
dhamma, having not attained enough
by this dhamma.”
Buddha, Discourse on the Noble Quest
Siddhartha joined a
group of ascetics and
practiced various forms
of self-denial.
After several years of
practicing self-denial, he
still felt unsatisfied.
• Siddhartha sat under a ficus tree to
meditate.
• Here he reached the moment of
enlightenment:
“everything that arises also passes away.”
• Buddha: the awakened one
“So – being myself liable to
birth…old
age…sickness…death…sorrow…imp
urity…, I attained nibbana…the
unborn…the unaging…the
unailing…the deathless…the
sorrowless…the morally pure,
unsurpassed security from bondage.
The knowledge and vision arose in
me: ‘My liberation is unshakable.
This is the last birth. There is now no
The Buddha taught his fundamental
insights throughout the Ganges
Valley for the next 45 years.
Buddhism exhibits a diversity of
viewpoints, much like Hinduism, though
– unlike Hinduism, this diversity
originates from a single source – the
Buddha.
Some Fast Facts on Buddhism
The Three Schools of Buddhism
Theravada (South Asian Buddhism)
Mahayana (East Asian Buddhism)
Vajrayana (Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia)
Three Principal Historical Periods
• 5th – 1st Century BCE: Early Indian
Buddhism, origins of Theravada
• 1st Century CE: Mahayana emerges and
spreads to Southeast and East Asia.
• 5th Century CE: Origin of Vajrayana and
spread of Buddhism to the Himalayan
region.
Buddhist Scriptures
The Pali Canon
Includes Tipitaka consists of three parts (monastic rules,
discourses, supplementary doctrines)
Chinese Canon
A variety of different topics, including histories of
different Buddhas, parables, ritual manuals, and spells.
The Tibetan Canon
Tipitaka, hymns of praise, commentaries on Buddha
sermons, and various technical treatises on topics as
diverse as logic and medicine.
Early Buddhist Discourses
Selections from the “Discourse Basket” of
the Tipitaka