Download Q: Describe the human condition according to Buddhism

Q: Describe the human condition according to
Buddhism.
Characterised by dukkha – suffering/disease/dissatisfaction.
Suffering can be in the form of pain, death,
disease, uncertainty and confusion.
Suffering caused by tanha –
attachment/craving and refusal to accept
impermanence (anicca).
Humans are trapped in samsara – an
illusionary/false life rather than an
enlightened life.
Q: What impact do Buddhist beliefs about the
human condition have on their lives?
Give up trying to satisfy ‘self’ in life, stop
making ‘self’ central to your life.
Show compassion/kindness (metta) to others.
Control negative states of mind.
Get rid of the illusion of impermanence
(anicca).
Develop wisdom/mindfulness through
practicing the Eightfold Path.
Q: Describe Buddhist beliefs about dukkha.
Dukkha means suffering, dis-ease,
dissatisfaction. It is the 1st Noble Truth.
Dukkha is seen in many forms – physical
suffering, pain, illness – emotional/mental
suffering, loneliness, depression – also seen
as the suffering of ignorance (not knowing
how to escape conditioned existence).
Dukkha is one of the three marks of
existence along with anicca and anatta.
These characterise the human condition.
Q: What do Buddhists understand by the Three
Root Poisons?
Greed, ignorance and hatred.
At the centre of the wheel of samsara and
keep it turning thus keeping ignorance and
suffering alive.
They are mental poisons which lead to bad
kamma and rebirth.
In Buddhist symbolism they are represented
by a cockerel, pig and snake all chasing each
other.
Q: What is vipassana meditation?
Insight meditation designed to increase
wisdom/awareness of your own mental state.
Can focus on a single idea such as love, joy or
change.
Leads to greater understanding of the
truths of Buddhism and the nature of the
human condition.
Leads to knowledge of and acceptance of
suffering (dukha) and change (anicca).
Q: Describe how samatha meditation is practiced.
Calming meditation sometimes called
mindfulness.
Focuses on the breath to calm the mind and
still restless thoughts.
Intended to come before vipasana/insight
meditation to make the mind still. Some
Buddhists say is like calibrating a telescope
before you use it.
Can be practiced with walking or any simple
human activity.
Q: What two benefits might the practice of
meditation bring Buddhists?
Trains the mind and develops strong selfawareness.
Eliminates cravings and the illusion of self.
Generates feelings of joy and goodwill.
Calms restlessness, anxiety and anger.
Gives insight into the nature of reality
(vipasana in particular).
Neuroscience is finding it beneficial for
some mental health conditions.
Q: What is the sangha?
Specifically refers to the monastic community
of monks & nuns following the dhamma.
Mahayanans use the term to refer to all
those who are seeking enlightenment
whether monastic or lay.
One of the Three Jewels/Refuges.
In Buddhist countries the sangha relies on
support from the lay community for food.
Q: What is an Arhat?
The ideal of an enlightened person in the
Theravadan tradition.
Always male monk living in the sangha..
Has achieved great wisdom, morality & skill
in meditation.
Achieves enlightenment and enters
parinibbana and experiences no rebirth.
Depends on the lay community for practical
support and provides them with an
opportunity to gain good kamma.
Q: What are the benefits & difficulties of being
a Buddhist monk or nun?
Benefits
Easier to overcome craving if isolated.
More time to meditate & cultivate compassion
Access to spiritual teachers for help.
Encouragement from others in the sangha.
Difficulties
Harsh lifestyle, cut off from family, home etc
Not easily available in non-Buddhist countries
Easy to become detached from other people.
Q: What made the Buddha establish the sangha?
Needed group to teach the dhamma to.
Needed group to preserve his teachings.
Needed to stop travelling during the rainy
season, therefore the sangha developed.
Wanted to establish monastic bases for
spreading the dhamma to others.
Q: What is a Bodhisattva?
One who is motivated only by compassionate
love for others.
Can be male or female.
One who ‘puts off’ Nibbana so they can help
others be free from suffering.
The Mahayanan ideal all Buddhists should
try to be like.
Q: Give examples of the role of the sangha in
Buddhist countries.
Provides monastic life for people to follow the
dhamma with total commitment.
Provides teaching on Buddhist scriptures,
meditation and morality.
Allows people to spend short periods living a
monastic life.
In Thailand young boys enter the sangha to
be educated prior to marriage & work.
Q: What is the role of the Buddha in revealing
the dhamma?
The dhamma (path/law) was waiting to be
discovered for each universe.
The Buddha discovered it whilst meditating
under the Bodhi tree.
Revealed it in the Deer Park Sermon, called
‘turning the wheel of the dhamma’.
Travelled rest of life to share the dhamma.
Mahayanan Buddhists allow for additions to the
dhamma after the Buddha.
Q: Describe Buddhist beliefs about Nibbana.
Third Noble Truth and goal of Buddhism.
A condition of inner peace where suffering,
craving and ignorance are ended.
Two types: with remainder, without remainder
(parinibbana)
Theravadans = Nibbana can only be achieved by
monks and nuns. Lay Buddhists can only work
towards a better rebirth next time.
Mahayanas = Nibbana can be achieved by
everyone this life. Is a less difficult path.
Q: Describe two steps of the Noble Eightfold
Path.
Right intention – part of the wisdom area of
the Noble Eightfold Path (NEP). Having the
right intention provides the basis for right
actions.
Right action – part of the morality area of
the NEP. Means acting with compassion,
trying to extinguish the three poisons.
Q: Describe two steps of the Noble Eightfold
Path.
Right speech – means not using speech to
hurt, no lies, gossip, angry remarks. Use
speech positively or not at all.
Right livelihood – means your way of earning
a living must not harm other beings.
Specifically not working in the meat,
weapons or alcohol industries, or in an
occupation which exploits people or animals.
Q: What do Buddhists understand by samsara?
Lit. meaning = ‘wandering’.
A description of existence viewed from a
non-enlightened/ignorant viewpoint, where
everything is illusory or false.
A description of the here and now as a cycle
of endless rebirth.
A state of conditioned existence where one
thing leads to another (kamma).
Freedom from conditional existence.
Is fuelled by the 3 poisons.
Q: Describe how kamma works.
Kamma is the natural law of cause & effect –
good actions bring good effects, bad actions
bring bad effects.
Kamma comes from intentional actions.
The results of actions can be immediate or a
future life.
Bad kamma is the result of the
unenlightened life (samsaric existence).
Q: Explain how kamma is connected to Nibbana.
‘Unskilful’ actions bind us to samsaric
existence therefore we can’t realise
Nibbana
‘Skilful’ actions help us realise Nibbana.
Kamma is connected to conditional existence
(cause & effect) Nibbana breaks the links of
conditional existence.
Achieving Nibbana means ceasing to create
bad kamma.
Q: Describe what Buddhists believe the Buddha’s
life was like up until his enlightenment.
Born a prince – Siddartha Gautama – lived a
protected life in a palace.
Saw the ‘Four Sights’ – sickness, old age,
death & holiness – and renounced his wealth
and previous life to search for the truth.
Lived with the forest ascetics practising
extreme forms of fasting and meditation.
Left the forest ascetics and gained nibbana
(enlightenment) under the bodhi tree.
Q: What were the Four Sights witnessed by the
Buddha on leaving the palace?
A sick person.
An elderly person.
A dead person.
A holy person (sadhu).
Q: What is the Pravrajya and why was it a
significant event for the Buddha?
Means ‘going forth’.
Was when Siddartha left the palace and his
life of pleasure.
Was Siddartha’s attempt to find a way to
deal with suffering.
Was a renunciation of pleasure as a way of
finding lasting happiness.
Q: In what ways is the Buddha viewed
differently by Buddhists?
Theravadans see the Buddha as a great role
model and example to follow but not a God.
Mahayanans have a much more ‘religious’ view
of the Buddha, seeing him as more than a
role model, able to be contacted through
prayer and existing in three dimensions or
bodies (the Trikaya)
Q: Describe the Four Noble Truths.
The diagnosis of what’s wrong with the
human condition is suffering – dukkha.
The cause of this suffering is craving, or
tanha.
The cure for the human condition is
enlightenment - nibbana.
Nibbana is achieved through following the
Noble Eightfold Path.
Q: What is the Tipitaka and what does it
comprise of?
The Vinaya-pitaka (concerned with monastic
rules).
The Sutta- pitaka (concerned with the
teachings of the Buddha as told by Ananda).
Abhidhamma-pitaka (analysis of Buddhist
ideas and advice on meditation.)
Q: What impact do beliefs about anatta have on
the lives of Buddhists?
Minimise attachment.
Focus less on self, more on others.
Practice mindfulness “an attitude of open
awareness to the present moment.”
Live according to the Five Precepts and
Noble Eightfold Path
Q: In what ways is the Buddha viewed
differently by Buddhists?
Theravadans see the Buddha as a great role
model and example to follow but not a God.
Mahayanans have a much more ‘religious’
view of the Buddha, seeing him as more than
a role model, able to be contacted through
prayer and existing in three dimensions or
bodies (the Trikaya)
Q: What are the Five Precepts?
Do not kill
Do not take what is not freely given
Do not over-indulge the senses (sex, food)
Do not lie, or spread false stories
Do not take drugs or alcohol which clouds
the mind
Q: What is the AryaSangha?
A special group of monks and nuns who have
achieved Enlightenment.
In Mahayanan Buddhism they are called
Bodhisatvas.
In Theravadan Buddhism they are called
Arhats.
Q: What are the Three Jewels?
Three ‘refuges’ providing safety and
comfort to Buddhists.
The Buddha
The Dhamma
The Sangha.
Q: In what different ways is worship (puja)
practiced in Buddhism?
In Theravadan Bism worship is simple &
focuses on images of the Buddha.
Recitation of scriptures, meditation. And
giving food to monks are considered worship in
Theravadan Bism
In Mahayanan Bism worship is more colourful
& varied and includes prayer flags, wheels and
chanting.
Prayers for help are offered to the Buddha or
Bodhisattvas in Mahayanan Bism
Q: What were the key aspects of the Buddha’s
Enlightenment?
Happened at Uravela under the Bodhi Tree or
‘Tree of Awakening’.
Experienced temptation from Mara - the Evil
One – who sent his daughters.
Persevered despite temptation – touched the
ground as witness to his right to meditate.
Achieved Enlightenment through four jhanas
and experienced total freedom from craving
Q: What do Buddhists understand by the
Dhamma?
Another name for the Buddhist religion.
Means ‘natural law’.
Refers to a universal moral law, which, if
followed correctly, will lead to peace.
Also means the ‘teachings of the Buddha’.
Q: What do Buddhists understand by upaya?
Is the doctrine of ‘skilful means’.
Refers to ethical decision-making and says
that an action is either ‘skilful’ or ‘unskilful’
depending upon the intention behind the
action.
Means that there are no absolute rights or
wrongs in Buddhism.
Q: What is meant by the human condition?
Refers to the state of being human.
Is debated by religious people & philosophers.
Involves beliefs such as Do humans have a
soul? Is there life after death? Do we have
free will? Are we capable of moral choices?
What happens when we die?
Q: What is the goal of Buddhism?
To live ‘skilfully’ and create positive kamma
make progress towards Enlightenment.
Ultimately to attain Enlightenment and
awaken to the true nature of reality.
To ‘blow out the fires of craving’ which lead
to rebirth.
Q: What means do Buddhists use to achieve the
goals of Buddhism?
Taking refuge in the Three Jewels helps
humans achieve the goals of Buddhism.
Following the Eightfold Path helps humans
progress towards Enlightenment