Buddhism: Beliefs and Teachings

The Three Refuges

Dhamma

Buddha

Sangha

Dhamma

Buddha’s teachings

Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama

Sangha

Buddhist community - monks, nuns and lay people

The 4 Sights

Old age

Illness (pain and suffering)

Dead person

Holy man (with inner peace)

Mara

The lord of hell who has come to tempt and distract Siddhartha from his journey to find inner peace

Distractions that Mara sent

1. Beautiful daughters to seduce. Didn’t work

2. Armies to attack. Poisoned arrows of hate turned into flowers

3. Offering him power over his kingdom, turn mountains to gold. Refused

4. Challenged Siddhartha’s right to achieve enlightenment and ask for witness. Siddhartha touched the ground and it shook. Earth = witnessed his right

Buddha meets and joins

5 ascetics (holy men)

He then starves himself and follows them

The 3 Watches of the Night

1. Knowledge of previous lives

2. Cycle of birth, death, and rebirth

3. Why suffering happens

Prophecy that Siddhartha’s mother got

White elephant got pregnant with baby and birthed a holy man and man get mad and kill idk

Dependent Arising

(Paticcamuppada)

Buddhist vision of the nature of reality. Everything arises and continues, dependent upon conditions.

Nothing is permanent or unchanging.

The Tibetan Wheel of Life

Illustrates the process of dependent arising in relation to human life, death and rebirth.

Outer circle : 12 links & stages (nidanas)

Shows continual cycle of birth (and ignorance), death, then rebirth.

The Buddha is outside of the wheel. He has escaped from samsara.

Kamma (Karma- AKABANE????)

Shows how someone’s actions lead to which realm they are reborn to

Samsara

The cycle of life, death and rebirth

The 3 Poisons

Greed

Ignorance

Hatred

These Poisons keep the (tibetan?) wheel spinning

Nibbana (Nirvana)

The state of peace and happiness

Reached when people break free from the cycle of samsara

Three Marks of Existence

Dukkha

Anicca

Anatta

Dukkha

Suffering : Happens when we have cravings / desires that we cannot fulfil. When we hang on to something.

Anicca

Impermanence : Nothing stays the same, everything changes.

Anatta

Not self : Present yourself differently. You have different versions of yourself.

“What I teach is suffering and the cessation of suffering”

Overcome pain associated with suffering

Let go of desires

Be grateful / happy with what you have

7 states of suffering

1. Birth

2. Old age

3. Sickness

4. Death

5. Sorrow, grief and despair

6. Contact with unpleasant things

7. Not getting what one wishes for

Different types of Dukkha

Suffering (Dukkha-dukkhata) : mental and physical pain

Change (Viparinama-dukkha)

Attachment (Samkhara-dukkha)

The Four Noble Truths

1. Dukkha : Suffering

2. Samudaya : Causes of suffering

3. Nirodha : Suffering can end

4. Magga : The Eightfold Path

The Eightfold Path

Practices Buddhists follow in order to achieve enlightenment

eg. right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right concentration, right mindfulness

The Threefold Way

Ethics (sila)

Meditation (samadhi)

Wisdom (panna)

Tanha

Craving

Different types of craving

Craving things that please the senses. eg. delicious food

Craving to become something that you are not. eg. wealthy/successful

Craving not to be, or craving non-existence. eg. wanting to avoid unpleasant feelings

The Five Aggregates

1. Form

2. Sensation

3. Perception

4. Mental Formations

5. Consciousness

The Six Perfections

Generosity

Morality

Patience

Energy

Meditation

Wisdom

The Five Moral Precepts

1. Abstain from taking life

2. Abstain from taking what is not given

3. Abstain from sexual misconduct

4. Abstain from wrong speech

5. Abstain from intoxicants

Different Branches of Buddhism

Theravada

Mahayana

Zen

Pure Land

Theravada

Monastic tradition following the Pali Canon

Focus on meditation

Mahayana

Believe anyone can find enlightenment with the help of sutras (teachings).

Focus on helping others

Zen

Mahayana branch.

Focus on meditation

Pure Land

Mahayana branch. Have faith in Amitabha Buddha.

Hope to be reborn in a Pure Land where it is easier to achieve enlightenment.

Practice involves chanting.

Arhat

Someone who has reached enlightenment in Theravada.

They will not be reborn

Bodhisattva

Someone who has achieved the Six Perfections.

Choose to be reborn to help others reach enlightenment.

Buddha-nature

All humans have the potential to become enlightened

Buddhahood

What you reach when you become enlightened and are free of suffering

Pure Land Human Destiny

Goal of life is to reach the Pure Land

Sunyata

Literally ‘emptiness’. Mahayana belief about the absence of an intrinsic nature or self-identity.