Download Buddhism The Way of Awakening For the presentations on a

Buddhism
The Way of Awakening
For the presentations on a religion the following elements of the religion should be presented:
According to Stephen Prothero in the book God Is Not One, each religion/non-religion has these four
aspects. In your presentation, describe what your tradition would put for each one of these categories:
1. A Problem (something is awry in the world).
2. A Solution (to deal with the problem)
3. A Technique (or techniques, for moving from
this problem to this solution
“Life is marked by suffering.” (172)
“The first Noble Truth observes that human truth is
characterized by dukkha, or suffering.” (182)
“But suffering has an origin; so it can be eliminated”
(172)
“[Buddhism's] goal is nirvana, which literally means
'blowing out,' ...in this case refers to extinguishing
suffering.”
“The path to elimination of suffering is the Noble
Eightfold Path.” (172)
Visualization, mind puzzles or meditation.
There are many kinds of meditation:
Following your breath
Vipassana – insight or mindfulness.
Metta – loving kindness.
4. An Exemplar (or exemplars “who chart this
path from problem to solution” (p. 14))
According to Stephen Prothero in God is not One, “Families” of religion have several dimensions. In your
presentation, describe the dimensions that are emphasized in your religion.
1. Ritual
2. Narrative
“Buddhism spread because it had a story, a powerful new
story about someone who, by waking up, had solved the
problem of human suffering and found peace amidst the
swirl.” (175)
3. Experiential
“One of the distinguishing marks of the Buddhist tradition is
it's emphasis on experience over belief.” (172)
“More than belief, Buddhism is about experience.” (199)
4. Institutional
5. Ethical
6. Doctrinal
“Buddhist teaching vary of course, but they often begin with
the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Noble Path.
Though widely considered to be the simplest doctrinal
distillation of Buddhist teachings, the Four Noble Truths are
anything but simple.” (181)
7. Material
Include how this religious tradition answers the 4 fundamental questions of life:
1) What is the nature of reality? What is “real”?
“Buddhists say if you think carefully enough you will see that you are not. According to
Buddhists, the self (Cartesian or otherwise) does not actually exist.” (179)
“Whereas Theravada Buddhists have argued that the self was actually a composite (of the
five skandhas) and therefore both fantasy and phantasm, Mahayana Buddhists took this
argument one step further, contending that everything, including the five skandhas, is equally
empty.” (193)
2) What would your life look like if you were “doing well”? Or what is a quality life?
3) What does it mean to be a truly good person? Or what is real goodness?
Goodness is developing your karma by doing good works/giving to those who have good
karma.
“Theravada Buddhism's arhats stood in the self-help tradition. They, too, believed that the
only way to get the religious goal was through one's own merit.” (188)
“Instead of focusing selfishly on his own private nirvana, the bodhisattva [Mahayana
Buddhism] uses his huge storehouse of merit to assist others. (188)
“In the Theravada model, laypeople receive merit from monks in exchange for food and
clothing. Ad while that merit might help you to a better rebirth, it could never get you nirvana.
In the Mahayana model, laypeople received merit from Buddhas and bodhisattvas in
exchange for their devotion, and while that merit whould likely only propel you to a better
rebirth, it could also transport you to nirvana.” (190)
4) How does one become a truly good person?