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Buddhist Traditions
Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D.
REL 117
Introduction to World Religions
Berea College
Spring 2005
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WHO IS A BUDDHIST?
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Buddhist = from Sanskrit
Buddha, “one who has
awakened” to true nature of
reality
When asked what he taught, the
Buddha said: “I teach suffering
and the end of suffering.”
When asked if he was divine or
human, the Buddha said: “I am
awake.”
When asked to summarize his
teaching, the Buddha said: “To
avoid evil; to do good; to cleanse
one’s mind.”
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ANCIENT ROOTS OF
BUDDHISM
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Gautama Siddhartha (“Success”):
Born in 6th or 5th century BCE (“Axial
Age”) in northeastern India to Hindu
family of kşatriya background
As young man, abandons family and
home in order to become a renunciant,
but rejects severe asceticism after
several years
Develops “middle way” (moderated
asceticism) and achieves nirvāna
(complete awareness of true nature of
reality)
Hailed as Şakyamuni (“Sage of the
Shakya Clan”) and Buddha
(“Awakened One”) and begins to
teach disciples from both genders and
all classes; dies at age 80
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THE BUDDHA’S PATH TO
ENLIGHTENMENT
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Early life of luxury renders him
incapable of critical perception of
reality
4 encounters lead to 4 lifechanging realizations:
Seeing an elderly person
(everything decays)
Seeing an invalid (everything
suffers)
Seeing a corpse (everything
perishes)
Seeing a renunciant (detachment
is possible)
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Subsequently, he adopts practice
of severe asceticism – but this
too renders him incapable of
thinking clearly about the nature
of things
After abandoning both seductive
luxury and grinding poverty, he
attains clarity of mind in solitary
meditation
Meditation culminates in 3
crucial insights:
Anitya (impermanence)
Duhkha (dissastisfaction)
Anātman (no permanent self)
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ANĀTMAN AND
THE “FIVE AGGREGATES”
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Buddhists say that the self is
not a holistic, permanent entity
(ātman)
Instead, it is a composite,
impermanent entity (anātman),
composed of five skandhas
(“aggregates”):
Physical body (outward, sensory
form of self)
Emotions (raw responses to
sensory data)
Ideas (processed responses to
sensory data)
Biases (orientations produced by
sensory data)
Consciousness (awareness of self
and senses)
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THE “FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS”
• Early Buddhists express
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the Buddha’s central
insights into reality as the
“Four Noble Truths”:
Life is suffering (duhkha)
Self-centered attachment
is the root of suffering
Suffering can be ended
There is a path by which
to end suffering
• Each “Noble Truth”
represents an
imperative to respond
to reality as it truly is:
• Understand suffering
• Let go of its origins
• Realize its cessation
(nirvāna – “blowing out”)
• Cultivate the path toward
its cessation
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THE THERAVĀDA
TRADITION
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By 200 BCE, all early Indian
Buddhist sects disappear except for
one: Theravāda (“Way of the
Elders”)
Theravāda claims to be custodian of
authentic teaching of Şakyamuni,
especially in terms of anātman
doctrine and monastic discipline
Theravāda sees monks alone as
capable of attaining enlightenment,
but encourages laypersons to accrue
punya (karmic merit) through good
actions in order to obtain better
rebirths and eventual monkhood
Theravāda becomes established
throughout South and Southeast Asia
Later marginalized by revived
Hinduism and introduction of Islam,
Theravāda survives today mostly in
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Southeast Asia and in Sri Lanka
THE MAHĀYĀNA TRADITION
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By 100 BCE, a rival to Theravāda
arises: Mahāyāna (“The Great Way”)
Mahāyāna claims to possess more
complete teaching of Şakyamuni,
especially regarding “Buddha-nature”
(intrinsic capacity of all beings for
enlightenment) and şunyata
(“emptiness” or mutual dependence
and non-ultimate nature of all
elements of existence)
Mahāyāna becomes majority form of
Buddhism in Central and East Asia
Most popular Mahāyāna sects:
Meditation (Zen) – focused on sudden
enlightenment through mindfulness
training, riddles, arts, and labor
Pure Land – focused on gradual
enlightenment through faith in Amida
Buddha, who vows to help all reborn
in his Pure Land to attain nirvāna
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TRADITIONAL BUDDHIST
GOALS FOR LIVING
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A Buddhist takes the “Three
Refuges”:
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The Buddha (the Teacher)
The Dharma (the Teaching)
The Sangha (the Taught Community)
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“Five Precepts” to be upheld
by all Buddhists, whether lay
or monastic:
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Do not kill
Do not steal
Do not misuse sex
Do not lie
Do not use intoxicants
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The “Noble Eight-fold Path”
directs one’s way of life
Prajñā (wisdom):
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Right views
Right thoughts
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Śila (morality):
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Right speech
Right action
Right livelihood
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Samādhi (concentration):
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Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right concentration
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