Religious Studies 232: Introduction to Buddhism

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Religious Studies 232 Introduction to
Buddhism
Week 1

• Instructor
• Justin Whitaker

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Welcome to RELS 232 Introduction to
Buddhism

• A bit about me
• I am a young scholar of Buddhism
• Student of Dr. Sponberg for 4 years
• BA in Philosophy, MA in Buddhist Studies, Current
  graduate student in Philosophy here.
• I am also a practicing Buddhist
• FWBO, Theravadin, Tibetan, Soto Zen, and Soka
  Gakai

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Welcome to RELS 232 Introduction to
Buddhism

• BUT much will stay the same
• Lecture slides (with modifications)
• Readings
• Videos
• Tests (also with modifications)
• TEST dates will NOT change

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Welcome to RELS 232 Introduction to
Buddhism

• There will be room in this course. If CyberBear
  would not let you register, keep trying!!
• Textbooks
• Buddhism is available in the bookstore
• Guide is not - but will be in by the end of the
  week (online) Amazon and BN have it too.
  coming from England Also check local USED book
  stores
• Both on 4-hr Reserve at the Library
• Additional Readings (Course-Pack)
• on E-Res (see course website)
• But not for purchase at the bookstore
• Cost is 80 for 361 pages

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Welcome to RELS 232 Introduction to
Buddhism

• a hard course?
• Or rather a challenging one (2003)
• As Bs 91 Cs 47
• Ds Fs 32
• Read the Syllabus and the Introduction to the
  Reading Guides very carefully
• Use the course website!!

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Welcome to RELS 232 Introduction to
Buddhism

• A Historical approach
• Chronological
• Cultural
• Contextual
• A Doctrinal approach
• Ideas vs. others at the same time and our own
• Debates
• Change

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Welcome to RELS 232 Introduction to
Buddhism

• Founded by a man, Siddhartha Gautama, in the 5th
  Century BCE.
• Arose from a rich social and cultural background
  where many other new philosophies were emerging
• Has spread around the world
• Central teachings impermanence, no-self, and
  dissatisfactoriness or suffering (anicca, anatta,
  dukkha)
• Differences Theravadin Tibetan Zen
  Western(?)

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Dalai Lama Human Rights and Moral
Practice

• Threats to Human Rights
• Authoritarian governments
• Militarization Arms Trade
• Economic Disparity between N S
• Population Growth
• Solutions gt Moral Practice
• Basis in human intelligence affection
• Compassion
• Intimacy
• Respect
• Responsibility

VT 11280
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A Quiz

• Identify this figure

• Not the Buddha
• Not Dr. Sponberg
• Pu-tai, a 6th-century Chinese Buddhist monk

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Pu-tai or Hotei
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Pu-tai or Hotei
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Pu-tai / Hotei

• East Asian Buddhism
• China Pu-tai
• Japan Hotei
• Itinerant Monk associated with the Chan (Zen)
  tradition
• Key figure in the popular folk tradition

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Pu-tai or Hotei
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Pu-tai / Hotei

• Characteristics
• Wanderer or Vagabond
• Friendliness
• Fond of Children
• East Asian Santa Claus-type figure
• Later linked to the Bodhisattva Maitreya

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• Not the Buddha
• Pu-tai, a 6th-century Chinese Buddhist monk
• Becomes a popular folk legend

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Images of the Historical Buddha
Gandhara (modern Afghanistan)
Aniconic Phase
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Images of the Buddha
Gandhara (modern Afghanistan)
Borobudur, Indonesia
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Images of the Buddha
China
Japan
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Images of the Buddha
Tibetan Thanka painting
Tibetan Gilded Buddha
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What is Buddhism?

• The Teachings of the Buddha
• What Buddhists have made of those teachings
• How those teachings have affected people
• Individually and socially
• In the past today

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What is Buddhism?

• A Teaching of Change
• Change in two different senses
• Impermanence
• Transformation

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What makes one a Buddhist?

• A sociologists answer
• Being born in a Buddhist culture
• Many different Buddhisms
• or cultural expressions of Buddhism
• A Buddhists answer
• Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels
• Buddha
• Dharma / Dhamma
• Sangha

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The Three Jewels

• Also translated as 3 Gems, Precious things,
  etc.
• The Buddha
• the awakened one
• The Dharma (Dhamma)
• the Truth he realized
• The Sangha
• the community

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Three Jewels The Buddha

• Literal meaning the awakened one
• A title, not a proper name
• Shakyamuni Buddha most recent of many buddhas
• Not a God
• an extraordinary human being
• more a guide than a savior
• As one of the Three Jewels
• the goal of human growth and development to
  which Buddhists aspire
• exemplar what it is to be truly and fully human

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Three Jewels The Dharma

• Two (related) meanings
• the Truth--the nature of reality--realized by the
  Buddha
• all of the Buddhas teachings leading to that
  Truth
• Going for Refuge to the Dharma
• seeking to realize that truth/reality
• by using the teaching of the buddhas
• Dharma Dhamma
• Sanskrit Pali languages

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Three Jewels The Sangha

• The Community of those following the Path of the
  Buddha
• An important distinction
• Arya-Sangha those who have been liberated or
  awakened
• Maha-Sangha all those following the path of the
  buddhas
• Buddhists go for refuge to the Arya-Sangha

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Going for Refuge

• Also translated as
• taking refuge in the 3 Jewels
• Active sense of going is important
• Expression of Faith or Confidence
• (shraddha)
• Teachings are
• Not articles of belief or faith
• To be verified in ones own experience
• Belief alone has no value
• but
• Confidence does

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Updates Friday, September 1

• By show of hands how many people would purchase
  a Course Pack? (80, about 2 per reading)
• My lecture notes will go online w/in 24 hours of
  each class
• Slides will be posted before each class
  (hopefully by the Sunday before each school week)
• Slides will be Reformatted, moved up so everyone
  can see them (my thanks to those who let me know
  this was a problem!)

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Updates Friday, September 1

• Change my email on the syllabus if you havent
  already it should be justin.whitaker_at_umontana.edu
  
• There is room in to course to add in but you
  will now be required to see me with an add slip.

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The Three Jewels
Review from Last Lecture

• Also translated as 3 Gems, Precious things,
  etc.
• The Buddha
• the awakened one
• The Dharma (Dhamma)
• the Truth he realized
• The Sangha
• the community

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Who is the Buddha?

• Two Importantly Different Questions
• Who (or what) is the Buddha for Buddhists?
• the Ideal of Human Enlightenment
• the many individuals who have attained that
  ideal
• Who is the historical figure we know as the
  founder of Buddhism?
• Siddhartha Gautama (5th Century BCE)
• aka Shakyamuni
• (sage of the Shakya clan)

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Shakyamuni Buddha His Life and Times

• Cultural Context
• The Classical Civilization of South Asia
• Character of the Buddha
• as recorded in his teachings (Dharma)

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Ancient Sources of South Asian Civilization

• Indus Valley Civilization (fl. 2500 BCE)
• See http//www.harappa.com/har/har0.html
• Other indigenous tribal traditions
• No documentary or archeological record
• Culture of the Aryans or Indo-Europeans
• ---the People of the Vedas
• ---arrived in S. Asia ca. 1500BCE

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(No Transcript)
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Civilizations of the Ancient World
Indo- Europeans Arrive
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Indo-European Migrations
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Shakyamuni Buddha His Life and Times

• Cultural Context
• The Classical Civilization of
• South Asia (Brahmanism)
• Character of the Buddha
• as expressed in his teachings (Dharma)

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Cultural Context

• Three Ancient Sources of S.A. Civilization
  pre-1500 BCE
• Brahmanic Culture of Classical S.A. Civilization
  1500 500 BCE
• Age of the Wanderers
• 6th 4th Century BCE

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Ancient Sources of South Asian Civilization

• Combination of the three ancient sources
• results in the
• Brahmanic Culture of Classical India
• which is the mainstream of
• South Asian Culture right up until today