buddhism central concepts

gelijkenissen v stromingen buddhisme

-in terms of ontology, epistemology, soteriology

link between buddhas life and doctrines

-impermanence as main characteristic of the world => based on four encounters and realization of suffering

-middle way => based on palace life vs. extreme ascetism

impermanence

-change that ultimately leads to suffering

-causes of suffering?: 1)desire (thirst)

2) ignorance (lack of insight in truth of suffering and nature of the self —> caught in cycle of life and death

impermanence and change

-everything is in a constant state of change

-nothing is fixed, self also not

-everything is conditioned and dependent and subject to: birth, growth, decay, death

the middle way

-central message in early teaching

-basic middle way: ascetism vs worldly pleasures (based on life story)

-different approaches: neither/nor (avoiding the extremes) both/and (bounces between extremes)

four noble truths

-truth of suffering (duhkasatya): different types: regular (sickness, old age death) impermanence, conditioned existence (no permanent self)

-origin of suffering (samudayasatya): craving (thirst for sensual pleasures, existence, non existence) because of three poisons (ignorance, attachment/desire, rejection/hate/anger)

-end of suffering (nirodhasatya): end of thirst which is the origin of suffering (reaching nirvana)

-there is a way to end suffering (margasatya): following the eightfold path

=> these four truths were taught by buddha in first sermon after enlightenment

translation of dukha

-suffering, stress, uneasiness

noble eightfold path

-aryastangamarga

-leads to ending of suffering

-original only ‘middle way’ as path

1) samyag drsti: right view

2) samyag-samkalpa: right intention/aspiration

3) samyah-vac: right speech

4) samyak-karmanta: right action

5) samyag-ajiva: right livelihood

6) samyak-vyayama: right effort

7) samyak-smrti: right mindfulness

8) samyak samadhi: right concentration

-often related to a threefold moral teaching (theravada)

1) morality/regulations (sila)

2) meditation (samadhi): when buddhism developed several methods developed, and the stages of meditation were thoroughly defined

3) wisdom (prajna): insight in the nature of existence (impermanence, suffering, impurity, no self, insight in true nature of things)

nirvana

-that which has never been born and is not compounded, that which never changes, it is unconditioned

-in buddhist texts often referred to as cessation

-breaking the chain of life and death

-aim is to become an arhat => fully realizing the four noble truths

cause and effect

-this explains why and how we are caught up in the cycle of life and death

-the process of change is regulated by the universal law of causality (cause and effect)

-that which does not change is the law of change itself

-anatman: since everything is in the process of change, there cannot be a fixed entity of a personality, no eternal self, no individuality

-mahayana buddhism takes no self (anatman) further => all dharmas are ‘empty’ (sunyata)

dependent origination

-pratitya samutpada: all things in the phenomenal and mental realms are brought into existence by a complex interplay of various factors, all things are devoid of substantiality or self entity

-interdependent transformations: everything is constantly changing and transforming, giving birth to new consequences of their existence => later concept tries to deal with problem of the notion of continuity of a person

-it is systematized into twelvefold chain of causation, became a basic tenet of all kinds of buddhism

samsara

-cycle of life and death

-12 fold chain of dependent origination causes sentient beings to be caught in a cycle of life and death => people are reborn until they can break the cycle

-leads to questions: what is link between rebirths, what are destinations of rebirth, what exactly is being reborn, what determines a rebirth, how can one influence these destinations

12 fold chain of dependent arising

1) ignorance, a blind person

2) samskara,volitional action, a potter making a vessel

3) vijnana, consciousness, monkey grasping fruit

4) namarupa, name and form, two persons in a boat

5) sadayatana, six senses, house with windows

6) sparsa, contact, entwined lovers

7) vedana, feeling arrow in the eye

8)trsna, thirst, man getting served a drink

9) upadana, grasping, picking a fruit

10) bhava, coming to be, couple in intercourse or standing person

11) jati, being born, woman giving birth

12) old age and death, corpse being carried

yama

-mythical figure

-lord of death, oversees the dead and judges their karma

dependent origination theory different interpretations

-mainly impact on ontology: no god, everything that exists is dependant on the cause

-mainly impact on mental processes: thoughts and emotions are conditioned

-epistemological aspect: we know that everything is impermanent

theravada focus

explains 12 links of dependent origination as how rebirth and suffering continue

-famous scholar: Buddhagosa —> introduces three lifetimes model

-alternative theravada interpretations: focus more on psychology than cosmology, 12 links are mental processes happing in the present, not three lifetimes

sarvastivada school

-uses three lifetimes model

-vasubandhu: key thinker in abhidharma philosophy, analyses causes and conditions, says that the self is a process not a fixed entity, also says 12 links can arise instantaneously in the mind

mahayana

-more philosphical view of dependent origination => sunyata (emptiness) because everything exists in dependence on causes and conditions so nothing is fixed

three lifetimes model

1) ignorance (avidya)

2) formations/impulses (samskara)

=> past life

3) consciousness (vinjnana)

4) name and form: mental and physical bodily functions (namarupa)

5) six senses (sadayatana)

6) contact (sparsa)

7) sensation (vedana)

8)craving/desire (trsna)

9) attachment (upadana)

=> present life

10) becoming (bhava)

11) birth (jati)

12 ) old age, decay, death (jara marana)

=> future life

samskara

volitional impulses, based on physical actions, speech actions, mental activity, they create a karmic profile and creates the consciousness

vinjnana

six types of consciousness

namarupa

mind and body

-mind: feeling, perception, intention/impulses, contact, attention

-body: composed of four elements (earth, water, wind, fire)

sparsa

contact: when the sense faculties through the sense consciousness makes contact with the sense object

vedana

feeling, sensations, arising based on the sense impressions, basically classified as pleasant, unpleasant and neutral

trsna

craving for the sense objects

upadana

clinging

-to sensual objects, views, practices, oneself

bhava

-becoming: a sense of identity based on ones experiences and desires, attachments => many different explanations

jati

birth, physical birth + arising of mental phenomena by becoming

how to break the chain?

-thirst: discipline, purification, practice => gets rid of thirst

-ignorance: attainment of wisdom (meditation) => gets rid of ignorance

-

karma

-important concept for many schools in india

-original meaning: action

=> ritual action: performing sacred rituals in Vedic religions

=> buddhism shift: ethicized action → karma is moralized, intentional actions matter (good actions, good karma, pleasant results)

-metaphors: trade → plant actions like seeds, trade: moral bank account

why good deeds since they also have karmic results?

-ending cycle of rebirth doesn’t happen immediately: higher realms of rebirth first

-one has to be reborn as human or god first in order to reach salvation and nirvana

two types of karma

1) aimed at a favorable rebirth (indirectly nirvanic)

2) based on introspection/meditation: gain of insight/wisdom, karma leading to cessation of karma

different approaches to karma

1) purana kasyapa: one can do what one wants, it will not have any consequences

2) ajivikas: everything is determined by fate (niyati)

=> middle way of buddhists: combination of determinism and free will, intentional action based on a determined background (present is dictated by the past, but does not dictate the future)

what produces karma?

-importance of intentionality

—> result: complex: how careful do you have to be, what about the karma of the people you unintentionally hurt

karma according to the jains

-mainly focus on the material: accumulation of dirt/atoms => impurities that attach to the pure soul/consciousness (jiva)

-jiva is everywhere (even in microbes (nigoda) insects

-getting rid of impurities → practice (reduction of ones actions, radical practice of non violence (ahimsa), fasting and ascetisism, reduction of karmic fat)

karma according to brahmanism

-transcendence of karma in meditation

=> if acts lead to undesired consequences, one must realize one has never commited those acts because one is really Atman and Atman does not act by its nature, AKA karma is illusion

buddhist middle way of karma

elements of both views:

-enlightenment (bodhi) —> if you eliminate ignorance you will get transcendence

-karma is something real: to end karma and get enlightened you need to get rid of impurities (asravas)

=> different approaches to Karma in buddhism, nullifying karma through intervention of supernatural beings (faith in devotional deities), through the power of faith (pure land schools), transcending karma through meditation (chan/zen buddhism), transference of merit to influence karma of others

realms of rebirth

-gati

-five or six realms

-certain actions will lead to specific destinies, these are described with more and more details in the course of time

-central concern: realm of hell (how to avoid to be reborn there)

three worlds and six realms

1) three world = triloka

=> kamu dhatu (desire realm)

=> rupa dhatu (form realm)

=> arupa dhatu (formless realm)

2) kamu dhatu = five realms (theravada), six realms (mahayana)

=> deva: gods

=> asura: titans, demigods (they envy the devas)

=> manusya: humans

=> tiryagyoni: animals

=> preta: hungry ghosts

=> naraka: hell being (often 18 types)

anatman

-no self

=> impermanence (anitya) and five aggregates

-middle way between eternalism (eternal soul) and annihalitionism (nihilism, no continuity)

-buddha doesnt answer the question => if he answers has to choose either between eternalism or annihalitionism/nihilism

=> this makes the question of rebirth complex

why do we have the illusion of a self?

-the self is a composite of five aggregates (skandha), there are only parts no whole

1) body (rupa): form, sense organs (eye, ear, skin, nose, tongue, mind)

2) basic feelings (vedana): through contact with objects (positive, negative, neutral)

3) perceptions (samjna): creation of thinkable units the mind can operate with

4) volition/tendencies (samskara): karmic actions and their results

5) consciousness (vijnana)

=> these aggregates are in a constant flow of change

expansion five aggregates in abhidharma texts

dharma becomes constituents of existence

conditioned dharmas:

-material dharma: the sense organs and sense objects

-mental dharma: mind, consciousnesses of the sense organs

-non material during perception: feeling, attention, notion

-other non material dharmas: faith, diligence anger, deceit

unconditioned dharmas:

-nirvana

-empty space

eighteen elements

eye —> visual objects —> visual consciousness

ear —> sounds —> auditory consciousness

nose —> odors —> olfactory consciousness

tongue —> tastes —> taste consciousness

body —> tangible objects —> touch consciousness

mind —> mental objects —> thought consciousness

different views on dharma

-mahayana: dharma is empty, does not have self nature

-theravada: dharma has svabhava —> self nature and as such a reality

pudgalavadins

=person that was neither the same nor different from the aggregates: atman idea

mahisakas

-three types of aggregates:

lasting for a moment

lasting for a lifetime

lasting until the end of samsara

mahasamghikas

root consciousness (mulavijnana)

subconscious which has some continuity

theravadins

bhavanga citta (unconscious mental continuum)

yogacara school (school in mahayana)

consciousness only

—> storehouse consciousness, where all karma is stored (no self but gives continuity)