Buddhism Quiz 1

Buddhism

- arose in Ancient India

- started w/ Gautama (Buddha)

- teaches discovery attained by man through awakening

- humans meant to suffer

Buddha Upbringing

- more legend than fact

- Siddhartha Gautama

- Born to warriors (fortunate)

- destines to gain enlightenment

- safe from suffering

Siddhartha Gautama

- not first or last Buddha

- historical buddha

- Born 563 BC in India

- transition from world maintenance to transcendence

- Dad wanted him to fulfill destiny as universal king, no enlightenment

4 passing sights

1. Old man - Impermanence

2. Diseased man - reality of suffering

3. Corpse - Inevitability of Death

4. Holy Man - hope to transcend suffering

Great Going Forth

- left wife and children at 29

- trying to find true serenity even though life is full of suffering

- victory of spiritual over moral concerns

- experiments with different paths

The Extremes

- grew up w/ sensory indulgence and excess in the palace

- Spent 6 years as a spiritual seeker

- Joined mendicants and follows asceticism

asceticism

lifestyle marked by extreme discipline, self denial, and the renunciation of indulgences (esp. bodily and sensory) usually for religious reason, often includes strict fasting and physical deprivation

The Middle Way

- balance between sensory indulgence and asceticism

- after asceticism didn't lead to salvation

- happiness in mind, body, and spirit

after awakening

- Buddha = the awakened one

- recognize what was true all along

- dedicates life to teaching instead of giving into nirvana

- tells mendicants (now Sangha)

Buddha himself, Dharma, and Sangha

The 3 Jewels

Sangha

- community of monks and nuns

- previously the mendicants

- Buddha's son joined

anatta, anicca, dukkha

3 marks of existence

- suffering arises bc humans link their happiness to material things, situations, outcomes, or self image

- not under our control, everything changes leading to suffering

anatta

- no core self

- you are a product of cause and effect that brought you here

- "no-self" or "not-self"

- denial of a permanent self / no ultimate reality of self enduring present moment

Anicca

- impermanence (first passing sight)

- all existent things are in a constant state of change

Dukkha

- suffering and lack of contentment

- "un-satisfactoriness'"

- always something to worry about whether physical or psychological

- pain vs. suffering

Urna

- tuft of hair or third eye between his eyebrows

- symbolizes spiritual insight

ushnisha

- bump n top of head

- symbolizes his attainment of enlightenment

elongates earlobes

- Buddha was once a prince and wore heavy earrings

- gave up wearing jewelry

- gave up life of luxury, but earlobes remained elongated

dharma

teaching of the buddha