Buddhism

Buddhism (The “Middle Way”)

History

  1. Hinduism had it’s drawbacks
  2. The number of outcasts were growing by 600 B.C.
  3. The view of an endless cycle of births and deaths was viewed with dread
  4. People in India turned to a number of beliefs
  5. Animal worship became popular in a few areas.
  6. Sects of Hinduism were followed
  7. Buddhism became the most successful.
  8. Buddha’s (The enlightened one) Life
  9. Born around 560 B.C. to a noble and wealthy family in northern India
  10. Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha) had a prophecy given at his birth
  11. “If the boy remains at home, he will be a great king.”
  12. “If not, he will become the savior of mankind.”
  13. Siddhartha’s Father wanted the King promised, so he kept Siddhartha at home away from anything evil, ugly, or aged.
  14. Siddhartha married and had a son.
  15. He decided at the age of 29 he needed to see the world and saw “The Four Passing Sights”
  16. He saw a decrepit old man and was told all become old.
  17. He saw a sick man and was told all people may become sick and suffer.
  18. He saw a funeral procession and was told all will some day die.
  19. He saw a tranquil looking monk begging and was convinced this was the life for him.
  20. Siddhartha’s quest for wisdom began.
  21.   He became a beggar in search of wisdom.
  22. He examined and then rejected Hinduism.
  23. He tried the ascetic life but found it gave him no peace.
  24. He sat to meditate under a fig tree and became enlightened.
  25. He reached the highest degree of consciousness, Nirvana.
  26. He supposedly stayed in meditation under the tree for seven days
  27. The truths he learned in his state of Nirvana, he would share with the world, not as Siddhartha Guatama but as Buddha, the enlightened one.
  28. He began teaching.
  29. First, he taught his companions, five monks.
  30. Next, he taught the people of India.
  31. By his death at age 80, Buddhism had become a major force in India.

 

  1. The Four Noble Truths:
  2. Suffering exists
  3. Birth is painful
  4. Death is painful
  5. Disease is painful
  6. Old age is painful.
  7. Not having what we desire is painful.
  8. Having what we do not desire is painful.
  9. The craving for pleasures of the senses, happiness, and prosperity is the cause of this suffering.
  10. To be free from suffering, one must eliminate craving, passion, and desire.
  11. The way to end all pain is to follow The Eight Fold Path
  12. Right Views:  to accept the Four Noble Truths and Eight Fold Path.
  13. Right Resolve: to renounce all pleasures, harbor no ill will, and hurt no creature.
  14. Right Speech:  Do not lie, slander, or abuse anyone, allow no idle talk.
  15. Right Behavior: Destroy no living creature, take only what is given, and commit no unlawful sexual act.
  16. Right Occupation:  Earn your living and harm no one.
  17. Right Effort: Improve yourself through rejecting evil qualities and encouraging good ones.
  18. Right Contemplation: Be observant, strenuous, alert, contemplative, free of desire, and free of sorrow.
  19. Right Meditation: When you have abandoned all sensuous pleasures, all evil qualities, both joy and sorrow, you must then enter the four degrees of meditation which are produced by concentration.

 

III.  Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism

  1. Theravada Buddhism is the oldest form.
  2. Mahayana Buddhism arose around the time of Christ.
  3. It enlarged the idea of the Bodhisattva (ones nearing enlightenment)
  4. These Bodhisattva delayed their own emancipation in order to help others with theirs.
  5. The 4 crises of Mahayana Buddhism:
    1. Desires cause pain yet Buddha said we should desire enlightenment. Solution – The Bodhisattva
    2. If the selfish seek Nirvana, who can enter? Again, the solution – The Bodhisattva
    3. How could Buddha selfishly entered Nirvana? Solution – Buddha was divine
    4. If Buddha was a god, perhaps people need not become monks to find Nirvana
    5. Salvation is offered to all, not just the monks.
    6. Major differences between Theravada and Mahayana:

 

 

Theravada                                                       Mahayana

Man as an individual                                       Man as involved with others

Man on his own in the universe                      Man is not alone

Emancipation is by self-effort                                    Salvation is by grace

Religion is a full-time job                                Religion is relevant to life in the world

Religion is primarily for the monks.                Religion is for monks and laymen as well.

Ideal:  Arhat a hero who attained salvation    Ideal:  the Bodhisattva

Buddha is a saint                                            Buddha is a savior

Shuns rituals                                                    Includes rituals

Confines prayer to meditation                                    Includes petitionary prayer

Conservative                                                   Liberal

Key virtue:  wisdom                                       Key virtue:  compassion

 

  1. Nirvana:  The final goal for the Buddhist.
  2. Nirvana means “the blowing out”  (of the flame of desire for the Buddhist)
  1. A state to be reached, not a place to go.

 

  1. Sacred Scriptures
  2. For the Theravada Buddhists, it’s the Tripitaka (three baskets)
  3. Vinaya Pitaka (discipline basket) rules for upper class Buddhists
  4. Sutta Pitaka (teaching basket) Discourses of the Buddha.
  5. Abidhamma Pitaka (metaphysical basket) Buddhist theology.
  6. The Tripitaka is eleven times the size of the Bible.
  7. For the Mahayana Buddhist, it’s the Tripitaka plus an additional 5,000 volumes

 

  1. For the Laity, their only role is to store up merit by any or all of the following:
  2. Observation of the Five Precepts
  3. Devotion to the Three Treasures
  4. Generosity, especially to monks and religious buildings.
  5. Worship of the relics of Buddha (bones and teeth).

 

VII.  The Five Precepts (Plus five for monks and nuns)

  1. Kill no living thing (including insects)
  2. Do not steal.
  3. Do not commit adultery.
  4. Tell no lies.
  5. Drink no intoxicants, and take no drugs.
  6. Eat moderately and only at the appointed time (monks and nuns only)
  7. Avoid that which excites the senses (monks and nuns only)
  8. Wear no adornments including perfume (monks and nuns only)
  9. Do not sleep in luxurious beds (monks and nuns only)
  10. Accept no gold or silver (monks and nuns only).

 

VIII.  Zen Buddhism (meditation)

  1. Zen believes the teachings of Buddhism’s basic tenants need not be written but can be transmitted from mind to mind without words.
  2. “Look within, you are the Buddha,” is a quote by Buddha the Zen rest upon.
  3. Words are the enemy of wisdom and salvation. We must empty our minds through meditation to gain freedom.
  4. The master of Zen gives his pupils verbal puzzles called “Koans”. The pupil is to meditate on these to gain enlightenment.
  5. What is the sound of one hand clapping?
  6. What was the appearance of your face before your ancestors were born?
  7. A cow passes by a window. Its head, horns, and the four legs all pass by.  Why did not the tail pass by?”
  8. Evaluation by Hudson Smith:

Entering the Zen outlook is like stepping through Alice’s looking glass.  One finds oneself in a tops-turvy wonderland in which everything seems quite mad — charmingly mad for the most part but mad all the same.  It is a world of bewildering dialogues, obscure conundrums, stunning paradoxes, flagrant contradictions, and abrupt non sequiturs, all carried off in the most urbane cheerful and innocent style.  (quoted in the Handbook of Today’s Religions.)

 

  1. Buddhism and Christianity

Differences

1.  Buddhism denies the existence of a personal God.

  1. Those who worship Buddha also worship other gods
  2. In Buddhism, man is worthless having only temporary existence
  3. Buddhism is really a family of religions having more diversity than all of monotheism