Buddhism

• 2600 years ago a Hindu named Siddhartha Gautama from the Shakya people of today’s Nepal and northern India broke away from Hinduism and founded his own religion.

• Siddhartha was trying to find a path to moksha (liberation) that worked for him. He practiced both Hinduism and then Jainism (another Indian religion) and eventually decided that neither was for him. After a long period of meditation by himself, Siddhartha constructed a set of beliefs and practices that today form the core of Buddhism, the world’s 4th largest religion.

• Siddhartha placed a strong emphasis on direct observation & investigation through the practice of examining your own mind through meditation.

• Meditation is the practice of calming oneself, & through direct observation learning about how our minds work.

• Foundation in observation, not holy scriptures = Buddhism is strongly philosophical.

• While Hinduism has a belief in the god Brahman, Siddhartha himself never confirmed nor denied the existence of a god.– some people to mistakenly call

Buddhism atheistic.

• Today there are many types of Buddhism found in many countries around the world.

• Buddhism spread out from India (where today it is not very popular) and into other countries first in Asia and later further abroad.

Along the way Buddhism encountered other religions that have influenced it:• Tibet – encountered Bon and

turned into Tibetan Buddhism or Vajrayana

• China – influenced by Taoism and formed Chan Buddhism

• Korea & Japan – Chinese Chan Buddhism moved east into where it became known as Zen Buddhism

• Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia – practice Theravada Buddhism, probably the closest to the original taught by Siddhartha

Beliefs Shared With Hinduism

Reincarnation • the soul repeatedly goes through a cycle of being

born into a body, dying, and being reborn again in a new body.

Beliefs Shared With Hinduism

Karma • a force that determines the quality of each life,

depending on how well one behaved in a past life. – Hinduism and Buddhism believe that we create karma by

our actions on earth: • If you live a good life, you create good karma• If you live a bad life, you create bad karma

Beliefs Shared With Hinduism

• Each time a Hindu or Buddhist soul is born into a better life, it has the opportunity to improve itself further, and get closer to ultimate liberation called Moksha.

• A person attains Moksha when one has "overcome ignorance", and no longer desires anything at all.

• The ones who reach Moksha no longer struggle with the cycle of life and death.

Beliefs Shared With Hinduism

• Everyone should strive to achieve dharma. – Dharma can be described as right conduct,

righteousness, moral law, and duty. – Anyone who makes dharma central to one’s life strives to

do the right thing, according to one’s duty and abilities, at all times.

The Three Jewels

• Taking refuge in the Three Jewels is the 1st step in becoming a Buddhist

• Lays the foundation for the practitioner to lead their life in an ethically disciplined way, avoiding actions harmful to others and respecting the laws of karma

• Prevents practitioner from collecting negative or bad karma.

The Three Jewels: The Buddha

• accepting that the Buddha achieved enlightenment and that following his path will free you from suffering and achieve enlightenment

The Three Jewels: The Dharma

• The teachings of the Buddha, the scriptures and writing that teach us the path of the Buddha

• The method of Buddhism

The Three Jewels: The Sangha

• The community of practitioners that you should surround yourself with to make it easier to stick to the path of the Buddha

The Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths are the ideas that the key to understanding the path to enlightenment (moksha).

The Four Noble Truths

The Truth of Suffering: • realizing that life is full of suffering• not pain or the physical sensation of discomfort, but

mental frustration, angst, boredom and other forms of mental suffering that are unnecessary

The Four Noble Truths

The Truth of the Origin or Cause of Suffering: • realizing that suffering is caused by attachment

(desire, craving, clinging, grasping) and not accepting that the world is impermanent.

• It is not caused by loving things, but in failing to accept that all things will eventually change.

The Four Noble Truths

The Truth of the Ending of Suffering: • Realizing or understanding exactly what it means or

rather how it feels to be free from the suffering caused by attachment, and to understand and believe 100% that it is possible to do this.

The Four Noble Truths

The Truth of the Path Leading to the Ending of Suffering: • realizing how you go about freeing yourself from

suffering, this is called the Eight-Fold Path

The Four Noble Truths

Suffering is what blocks the path to enlightenment. Like a disease if we are to defeat suffering we must:

1. identify the disease and its cause

2. eliminate this cause

3. get yourself into a healthy state

4. choose a lifestyle that will prevent you from getting sick again

The Path to Freedom: The Eight-Fold Noble Path

• In order to become free from suffering we must follow a moral and ethical way of life.

• The Buddha summarized the correct attitude and actions one must take in order to achieve enlightenment in the Eight-fold Noble Path.

• It is a combination of leading a moral life and practicing meditation.

The Path to Freedom: The Eight-Fold Noble Path

Correct Thought • Avoid:– attachment– grasping– being jealous– the wish to harm others– wrong views such as “my actions have no

consequences”, “I never have any problems”, “there are no ways to end suffering” etc

The Path to Freedom: The Eight-Fold Noble Path

Correct Speech• Avoid: – lying– divisive and harsh speech– idle gossip or dishonestly – omitting something– using speech in any kind of phony way

The Path to Freedom: The Eight-Fold Noble Path

Correct Actions • Avoid: – killing– taking things that are not offered to you– sexual misconduct– being intoxicated on alcohol and drugs

The Path to Freedom: The Eight-Fold Noble Path

Correct Livelihood• try to make a living with the above attitude of

thought, speech, and actions

The Path to Freedom: The Eight-Fold Noble Path

Correct Understanding • work to develop genuine wisdom

The Path to Freedom: The Eight-Fold Noble Path

Correct Effort • after we start to meditate we need to continue to

work hard with a joyful and happy attitude, it should not be a chore

The Path to Freedom: The Eight-Fold Noble Path

Correct Mindfulness• try to be aware of the “here and now” instead of

dreaming in the “there and then”• work to stay present throughout your life and not

spend it day dreaming

The Path to Freedom: The Eight-Fold Noble Path

Correct Concentration• work to keep a steady, calm and focused state of

mind