The Buddha’s teachings (samsara, three marks of existence and the four noble truths)

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What does ‘karma’ mean?

Action- it only refers to intentional actions, not all actions

What is Karmavipaka or Karmaphala?

The consequence of actions of body, speech or mind felt as pleasant or unpleasant or neutral

What does Kusala mean?

Skilful, wholesome or good

What does akusala mean?

Unskilful, unwholesome or bad

What are the roots of Akusala actions?

Greed, hatred and delusion

What are the roots of Kusala?

Generosity, loving kindness and wisdom

How is good karmaphala earned?

Through wholesome deeds (punya or merit)

What is pattidana?

When the benefits of good karma can also be transferred to others

Explain the concept of karmaphala further?

Once an intentional action has happened, there will be some karmic fruit (phala). This is not seen as punishment from the Gods or God, just the natural ripening of intentional action. Buddhists also belief that the karmic seed that is planted in a previous life may bear fruit in this one or the next.

Give a quote that links to the concept of Karmaphala?

“If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts, happiness follows them like a never-departing shadow’ and ‘nowhere in the world is there a place where one may escape from evil deeds’

What is Samsara?

Samsara is the ‘wheel of life’- the cycle of birth, death and rebirth undergone endlessly by unenlightened beings, driven by the poisons greed, hatred and delusion. Being pass between the Six realms according to their karma. The realms can be painful, pleasurable or both, but ultimately involve suffering. Each realm can be understood as a physical realm or a psychological state.

How does Samsara arise?

Out of ignorance (avidya) and is characterised by suffering (dukkha).

How is liberation from Samsara achieved?

By following the eightfold path

What are the six different realms of existence?

The godly realm, The human realm, Titans, Animals, Hungry Ghosts and Hell

Explain the godly realm?

There are 27 Heavens in the godly realm including the tusita heaven where Siddartha lived before being born into his life as the Buddha. This is a pleasant realm where the gods live for millions of years, enjoying benefits of good karma. However, they do not add any more good karma during this life because they do not act intentionally; they only act according to the heaven they are born into

Explain the Human realm?

The only realm where good and bad karma can be added. Only humans have the ability to make free choices. This is also the only realm where one can attain enlightenment

Explain the Titans

Titans are similar to gods in that the titan realm is pleasant to live in and their lives are very long. However, they are jealous of the gods and spend much of their time waging war on the gods and losing. People who are greedy and jealous tend to be reborn here

Explain the Animals

They do not have self-awareness in the same way that humans do and therefor cannot intend things (they have no ability to generate skilful or unskilful karma) and cannot follow a spiritual path. they live by the sense instincts and are subject to whatever suffering comes to them. It is said that humans who completely ignore the spiritual life and karma could be reborn in this realm

Explain the Hungry Ghosts?

They live on the edge of the human realm and were greedy in a previous life, They have long thin necks, large bellies and small mouths which make eating difficult. They represent an insatiable craving that is never satisfied and live in a permanent state of hunger

Explain Hell?

There are many different hell realms, people are reborn here is their previous lives are dominated by hatred. However, life here is not permanent, even hell beings are eventually reborn into a better realm

Explain the link between the concepts of samsara and karma?

The Buddha taught Karma influences everything that happens in samsara. For some buddhists, samsara does not refer to an external environment but to our mind and bodies (the five khandas) under the influence of karma.

What are the Five Khandas?

What a human being is made up of; the five elements of experience we cling to and believe in as ‘me, myself and mine’. The five categories are form, feelings, perceptions, mental formulations and consciousness

How does the Buddha explain the Five Khandas?

The buddha used an explanation of the Five khandas in many of his teachings. his main point was that you are made up of the khandas, but these are not the same as a permanent ‘you’. Or self. They are temporary, conditioned phenomena, empty of a soul or permanent self. The Budhha taught that clinging to the Five Khandas as “me’ is an illusion based on ignorance. Khandas is translated as ‘aggregates;’ but it can also be translated as ‘heaps’ or ‘bundles’ therefore, the five bundles which collectively make up ‘me’

What is Paticcasamuppada?

Dependent origination- everything has both a cause and an effect an so is interlinked- everything that exists only exists because of everything else that is exists. There are 12 causes and conditions called nidanas which give rise to samsara. This is where our thoughts, habits and preferences come from

What are the 12 nidanas?

Ignorance, mental formulations, consciousness, mind and matter, six senses, contact, feelings, craving, clinging, becoming, birth and decay and death

Give a quote that links to Paticcasamuppada?

“When this exists, that comes to be. with the arising of this,that arises. When this does not exist, that does not come to be. With the cessation of this, that ceases”

Explain Punabhuva?

It means re-becoming. What moves from one life to the next is karma and consciousness. The stream of consciousness upon death becomes one of the contributing causes for he arising of a new life. The consciousness in the new person is neither identical nor entirely different from that in the deceased, but the two consciousnesses form a continuum or stream. Rebirth is conditioned by the karmas- good actions lead to a happier rebirth and vice versa

Define nirvanva?

Direct knowledge of the unconditioned, beyond the ignorance of samsara, which arises when the three fires of greed, hatred and ignorance have been extinguished. Nirvana is not a blank state, but is characterised by a wise and spontaneous compassion, boundless energy for the good and freedom from fear of death

What is the Ultimate Truth?

Ultimate or absolute truth is non-dualistic awareness, which sees everything as it is, beyond self and other the spacious and timeless essence of life

Explain the relation between nirvana and the ultimate truth?

Nirvana is the cessation of all suffering as well as craving. Nirvana is also the understanding of the ultimate truth.

Explain Paranirvana?

Once someone has attained nirvana in this life they will not re-become when they die. At the point of death,someone who has attained nirvana is said to achieve paranirvana. This is the final cessation of all things connected to samsara. What is beyond death is indescribable

What are the three poisons or fires?

Greed (loba)- which includes desire or lust is always wanting ot get hold of things, possess them and have more and more of them

Hatred (Dosa)- which includes anger, animosity and aversion is the tendency to reject what we do not like or does not bring pleasure

Ignorance (Moha) which is the not knowing- is the delusion that we are fixed, separate selves and the delusion that we will find happiness through the self-centred activities of greed and hatred

What does the Buddha teach about the three fires or poisons?

The Buddha taught that it was more important to focus on overcoming the three fires rather than on speculating about the nature of God.

What are the three marks of existence?

Anicca, anatta and dhukka are the fundamental characteristics of all phenomena that exist. Everything is impermanent, has not inherent self and is affected by suffering

Explain Anicca?

Everything in the universe is constantly changing- it is impermanent . For example mountains build up and erode, clothes are made and wear out, and all beings are born and then die. The human body itself constantly changes particularly thoughts, feelings, moods and ideas. This also applies to negative feelings like pain, and even the pain and torture of the hell realm will not last forever. Therefore, the Buddha teaches that nothing is permanent

Explain Dukkha?

Wanting things to be permanent leads to Dukkha which means suffering in the broadest sense. There are three types of suffering:

Ordinary suffering- dukkha dukkha - Illness, pain or death, the suffering we see all around us

Suffering from pleasant situations (Viparinama-dukkha) the suffering that comes from an inability to accept change. people cling to pleasant experiences and suffer when they end

Subtle dissatisfaction with life itself rather than any other distinct problem (sankhara-dhukka) a sense of frustration at the limits of being human feeling that it is all pointless and will end in death, This general insecurity if often called angst.

Explain Anatta?

Means not self or no soul. The Buddha said that nothing in our experience corresponds to the concept of an unchanging immortal soul. The 5 Khandas are what makes a person, The physical, mental and emotional bits all come together at birth and fall apart at death, but no individual part is the ‘self’- all five khandas are constantly changing. Also the 5 khandas are not independent but are originated because of other events or actions. Therefore there can be no fixed and separate soul because nothing is permanent or independent of other things

Give a quote that is linked to the four noble truths?

“I teach suffering, its origin, cessation and path. That’s all I teach”

Explain the first noble truth?

Suffering (dukkha) when the budhha left the palace which he had grown up for the first time he saw the four passing sights, three of which had a profound effect on him. As a result of what he saw, the Buddha came to believe that life is impermanent and characterised by suffering. The first noble truth reflects this. The Buddha suggests that suffering is physical but also mental which even when satisfied cannot be for long. Pleasure does not last this is is the truth of suffering.

Explain the second noble truth?

Origin of Suffering (Samudaya). The Buddha taught that the root of all suffering is craving (tanha) of which there are three types:

Kama-tanha- craving for bodily and sense pleasures

bhava-tanha- craving to have or to be; for example, endless wanting to have wealth or to be famous or powerful

Vibhava tanha- craving to not have or not be, to not have pain, to avoid all difficulties or people we find troublesome

Explain the third noble truth?

Cessation of suffering (nirodha) There is a possibility of being liberated from suffering and from the endless cycle of birth and rebirth. This liberation is when a Buddhist extinguishes the three firest of greed, hatred and ignorance. This will end craving and lead to the liberation of the mid from thought of self and permanence. It is therefore a state of mind rather than some heavenly realm. The Buddha called it supreme bliss and happiness

Explain the fourth noble truth?

The path to the cessation of suffering (Magga) it is the practical path which is a middle way between severe asceticism and craving for sense pleasures. There are eight limbs to support and reinforce each other:

Right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration

Explain the eightfold path?

Sometimes called the Threefold way, as the eight precepts can be divided into three sections: wisdom- right view and intention, ethics- right speech, action and livelihood and meditation- right effort, meditation and concentration.

Define the five precpets?

Five ethical precepts or training principles voluntarily taken up by Buddhists.

Explain the five precepts?

To follow the five precepts is to live more in accord with the right view. The five precepts are:

To avoid taking the life of all beings- to act with loving kindness

To avoid taking things not given- to act with generosity

To avoid sexual misconduct- to live simply with contentment

To refrain from false speech- to speak truthfully

To abstain from substances which cause intoxication and heedlessness- to live mindfully