Buddhism

1
Buddhism

• The middle way of wisdom and compassion
• A 2500 year old tradition that began in India and
  spread and diversified throughout the Far East
• A philosophy, religion, and spiritual practice
  followed by more than 300 million people
• Based on the teachings of the Buddha

2
The Three Jewels of Buddhism
Buddha the teacher
Dharma the teachings
Sangha the community
3
Who was the Buddha?

• Born Siddhartha Gautama of noble caste in
  India, 563 B.C.E.
• Raised in great luxury to be a king
• Empathy for the suffering of others at age 29
  rejected the life of luxury to seek enlightenment
  and the solution to suffering
• Followed a strict ascetic lifestyle for six years
• Rejected this extreme, sat in meditation,
  achieved Nirvana an awakening to the truth
  about life, becoming a Buddha, the Awakened
  Oneat the age of 35
• Spent the remaining 45 years of his life teaching
  others how to achieve the peace of mind he had
  achieved

4
What did the Buddha teach?

• The Four Noble Truths
• To live is to suffer
• The cause of suffering is self-centered desire
  attachments
• The solution is to eliminate desire and
  attachment, thus achieving Nirvana
• The way to Nirvana is through the Eight-Fold
  Path

5
What is the Eight-Fold Path?

• Wisdom
• Right understanding
• Right motivation

• Moral discipline
• Right speech
• Right action
• Right livelihood

• Mental discipline
• Right effort
• Right mindfulness
• Right meditation

6
How does Buddhism differ from Hinduism?

• Buddhism rejects
• Authority of the ancient Vedic texts
• The Vedic caste system
• The Vedic and Hindu deities
• The efficacy of Vedic worship and ritual
• The concept of Brahman

7
How does Buddhism differ from Jainism?

• Buddhism rejects
• The concept of Atman
• The practice of strict asceticism and withdrawal
  from the world (preferring the middle way)
• Vegetarianism as required

8
What do Buddhists believe?

• Rebirth (reincarnation) results from attachments
  (karma)
• Nirvana is a peaceful, detached state of mind
• Achieving Nirvana means escape from the cycle of
  rebirth
• Once Gautama Buddha died, after 80 years of life
  in this world, having achieved Nirvana and
  teaching multitudes his way of life, he ceased to
  exist as a distinct being
• Buddhism is non-theistic Buddha is not the
  Buddhist God he is just a revered teacher

9

• Some lamas are considered reincarnations of their
  predecessors. These are termed sprul-sku lamas,
  as distinguished from developed lamas, who have
  won respect because of the high level of
  spiritual development they have achieved in the
  present lifetime. The highest lineage of
  reincarnate lamas is that of Dalai Lama, who was,
  until 1959 when he went into exile, the temporal
  ruler of Tibet. The title is given to the head of
  the dominant order of Tibetan Buddhists,
  the Dge-lugs-pa (Yellow Hat sect). He is
  considered the physical manifestation of the
  compassionate bodhisattva (buddha-to-be)
  Avalokiteshvara. The second highest line of
  succession is that of the Panchen Lama, head
  abbot of the Tashilhunpo monastery, believed to
  be the manifestation of the Buddha Amitabha.
  Other, lesser sprul-sku lamas, of which there are
  several thousand, are revered as reincarnations
  of great saints or teachers, ranked as great,
  middle, or lesser incarnations. The idea probably
  originated from the tradition of the
  84 mahasiddhas, or master yogins (spiritual
  adepts, or ascetics), many of whom were
  identified as manifestations of earlier sages,
  coupled with the accepted Buddhist belief in
  rebirth.

10
The Lama of Compassion

• The 14th Dalai Lama (religious name Tenzin Gyatso

11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13

• Dalai Lamas are believed to be the reincarnation
  of Avalokitesvara, an important Buddhist deity
  and the personification of compassion. Dalai
  Lamas are also enlightened beings who have
  postponed their own afterlife and chosen to take
  rebirth to benefit humanity. "Dalai" means
  "ocean" in Mongolian (the name "Gyatso" comes
  from the Tibetan word for ocean). "Lama" is the
  equivalent of the Sanskrit word "guru," or
  spiritual teacher. Put together, the title of
  Dalai Lama is literally "Ocean Teacher," meaning
  a "teacher spiritually as deep as the ocean."

14

• Lhamo Thondup was born on July 6, 1935 in
  Taktser, China, northeast of Tibet, to a peasant
  family. He is the head of state and spiritual
  leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile based
  in Dharamshala, India. Tibetans believe him to be
  the reincarnation of his predecessors. For nearly
  50 years, he had aimed to establish Tibet as a
  self-governing, democratic state.

15

• Lhamo Thondup was the fifth of 16 childrenseven
  of whom died at a young age. After several months
  of searching for a successor to the 13th Dalai
  Lama and following many significant spiritual
  signs, religious officials located Lhamo Thondup,
  at age 2, and identified him as the reincarnation
  of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. Young
  Lhamo was renamed Tenzin Gyatso and proclaimed
  the 14th Dalai Lama.

16
Buddhist Metaphysics

• Dukkha life in this world is filled with
  suffering
• Anicca everything in this world is impermanent
• Suffering is a state of mind achieve a
  balanced, peaceful, detached state of mind and
  suffering can be extinguished (Nirvana)

17
What are some Buddhist texts?

• Tripitaka (the Pali Cannon) the Three
  Baskets
• Vinaya (discipline) rules for monastic life
• Sutta (discourse) sermons of the Buddha
• Abhidhamma (metaphysical teachings)
• Dhammapada collected sayings of the Buddha
• Other texts used by specific schools

18
The Spread of Buddhism

• Within two centuries after the Buddha died,
  Buddhism began to spread north and east into Asia
• By 13th century Buddhism had disappeared from
  India

19
Schools of Buddhism - Theravada

• The Way of the Elders (a.k.a. the small
  vehicle)
• Oldest school of Buddhism
• Found in southern Asia (Sri Lanka, Burma,
  Thailand, etc.)
• Monasticism is the ideal life for achieving
  Nirvana
• A do-it-yourself approach to enlightenment
• Focus on wisdom and meditation
• Goal is to become a Buddha
• Fairly unified in belief practice (some
  cultural differences)

20
Schools of Buddhism - Mahayana

• The Great Vehicle
• Developed first century C.E.
• Found in Northern Asia (China, Japan, etc.)
• Lay Buddhism Buddhism for the masses
• Devotional seek guidance from Bodhisattvas
  (wise beings) heavenly Buddhas (kwan Yin,
  Amida, etc.)
• Focus on compassion
• Goal is to become a bodhisattva and assist others
  toward enlightenment (the Bodhisattva Ideal)
• Diverse schools and sects including
• Pureland, Nichiren, Tendai, Shingon, and others

21
Schools of Buddhism - Tibetan

• Vajrayana the Diamond Vehicle
• Developed 7th century C.E.
• A mix of Theravada Mahayana
• Rituals (Tantra)
• Mantras (chanting)
• Mandalas Thankas (symbolic images)
• Mudras (hand gestures)
• Bodhisattvas, including living Lamas (Dalai Lama)
• Meditation, monasticism, wisdom compassion
• Bardo Thodol -Tibetan Book of the Dead

22
Schools of Buddhism Zen

• The meditation school
• Lay and monastic
• Seeks sudden enlightenment (satori) through
  meditation, arriving at emptiness (sunyata) and
  the Buddha Nature
• Use of meditation masters (Roshi)
• Koans (paradoxical riddles to confound reason)
• Beauty, arts aesthetics gardens, archery, the
  tea ceremony, calligraphy, etc.

23
Buddhism in the West

• Over the past two centuries, especially since the
  later half of the 20th century, Buddhism has made
  inroads into the Western world through
• Immigration of Asian peoples who have brought
  their diverse forms of Buddhism to the West
• Western followers who tend to adopt meditation
  practices and the philosophy rather than more
  devotional forms of Buddhism
• Many such western followers remain within their
  own faith traditions, finding Buddhism to be a
  complement to rather than in conflict with other
  religions
• The two groups remain independent of one another

24

• Quotation by Siddhãrtha Gautama (Buddha)
• "Do not believe in anything simply because you
  have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply
  because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not
  believe in anything simply because it is found
  written in your religious books. Do not believe
  in anything merely on the authority of your
  teachers and elders. Do not believe in
  traditions simply because they have been handed
  down for many generations. But after observation
  and analysis, when you find that anything agrees
  with reason and is conducive to the good and
  benefit of one and all, then accept it and live
  up to it."

Created by Laura Ellen Shulman
25
If we learn to open our hearts, anyone,
including the people who drive us crazy, can be
our teacher.

• Without inner peace, outer peace is impossible.
  We all wish for world peace, but world peace will
  never be acheived unless we first establish peace
  within our own minds. We can send so-called
  'peacekeeping forces' into areas of conflict, but
  peace cannot be oppossed from the outside with
  guns. Only by creating peace within our own mind
  and helping others to do the same can we hope to
  achieve peace in this world.