Buddhism

Who is Buddah?

Born Prince Circa 563 BCHis father, Suddhodana, was king of the clan.

His mother was named Maya.Born at the foot of the Himalayas, between

Nepal and Tibet.He was given the name Siddhãrtha Gautama. 

Siddhãrtha means "one who has achieved his aim." Gautama was his clan name. He was sometimes referred to as Śãkyamuni which means "the sage of the Śãkyas."

Siddhãrtha

Raised a Hindu

At the age of 16, he was married to his wife Yaśodharã. When he was 29, his wife had a son, Rãhula.

He left his wife, child, luxurious lifestyle, and future role as a leader of his people in order to seek truth

Enlightenment

One night In 535 BCE, at the age of 35, he was seated underneath a large tree -- later known as the Bodhi tree (species Pipal or ficus religiosus). He began to experience some major spiritual breakthroughs:

Enlightenment

During the first watch of the night, he developed the ability to recall the events of his previous reincarnations in detail.

During the second watch, he was able to see how the good and bad deeds that many living entities performed during their lifetimes led to the nature of their subsequent reincarnation into their next life.

Enlightenment

During the third watch, he learned that he had progressed beyond "spiritual defilements," craving, desire, hatred, hunger, thirst, exhaustion, fear, doubt, and delusions. He had attained nirvana. He would never again be reincarnated into a future life.

He had attained enlightenment! "He became a savior, deliverer, and redeemer."

Significance of Enlightenment

The events under the Bodhi tree are often described in mythological terms in Buddhist literature and art. His experiences are portrayed as a battle with Mãra, the Buddhist equivalent of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic Satan.

He assumed the title Lord Buddha (one who has awakened; the one who has attained enlightenment by himself).

7 Days of pondering

He wanted to decide whether to enter a lifetime of seclusion or share his Middle Way teaching

He chose to teach (Shocking!?)

Fabulous Five

He found 5 guys he fasted with for 6 years earlier in his life and they accepted his teachings. After his 2nd sermon, they all achieved Enlightenment.

They were ordained as monks and after Enlightenment became Arhants(saints)

What next?

He wandered around Northeast India for decades, teaching all who would listen. He covered a "territory some 150 miles long by 250 miles wide, an area somewhat smaller than Ireland or the state of Pennsylvania." 2 He had tens of thousands of disciples and accumulated a large public following. He later established an order of monks and a corresponding order of nuns. His wife Yaśodharã became the first nun.

His health began to fail when he was in this late 70s. After forty-five years of teaching, he died in a small town named Kuśinagara, apparently of natural causes. His final words were: "Decay is inherent in all things. Be sure to strive with clarity of mind" for Nirvana. The traditional date of his death is 483 BCE. However, some recent research indicates that he actually died circa 405 BCE.

Successor

One was not chosen. He felt Dharma and the Vinaya would be the best tools to guide his followers.

250 years later a group of monks collected his teachings and oral traditions of faith and put them into writing in the Tripitaka.

What is Buddhism?

Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to Insight into the true nature of life.

The basic tenets of Buddhist teaching are straightforward and practical: nothing is fixed or permanent; actions have consequences; change is possible.

What is Buddhism?

It teaches practical methods (such as meditation) which enable people to realize and utilize its teachings in order to transform their experience, to be fully responsible for their lives and to develop the qualities of Wisdom and Compassion.

All traditions are characterized by non-violence, lack of dogma, tolerance of differences, and, usually, by the practice of meditation .

IS IT A RELIGION? Yes IS IT A PHILOSOPHY OR WAY OF

LIFE? Yes A PATH TO ELIMINATE SUFFERING DOES NOT ENDORSE THE

EXISTENCE OF A SOUL

WORLD THINGS ARE NOT PERMANENT

DOES NOT ENDORSE THERE IS WORLDLY HAPPINESS

IT IS DOCUMENTED in the Tipitaka, written in about 84 BC, in Sri Lanka, it is 11 times the size of the Bible.

4 Noble Truths

There is suffering. There is cause for suffering. There is cessation of suffering. There is path leading to the

cessation of suffering.

1st Noble Truth

is the existence of suffering. Birth is painful and death is painful; disease and old age are painful. Not having what we desire is painful and having what we do not desire is also painful.

2nd Noble Truth

is the cause of suffering. It is the craving desire for the pleasures of the senses, which seeks satisfaction now here, now there; the craving for happiness and prosperity in this life and in future lives.

3rd Noble Truth

is the ending of suffering. To be free of suffering one must give up, get rid of, extinguish this very craving, so that no passion and no desire remain.

4th Noble Truth

leads to the ending of all pain by way of the Eightfold Path.

8 Fold Path

The first step on that path is Right Views: You must accept the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.

The second is Right Resolve: You must renounce the pleasures of the senses; you must harbor no ill will toward anyone and harm no living creature.

The third is Right Speech: Do not lie; do not slander or abuse anyone. Do not indulge in idle talk.

The fourth is Right Behavior: Do not destroy any living creature; take only what is given to you; do not commit any unlawful sexual act.

8 Fold Path

The fifth is Right Occupation: You must earn your livelihood in a way that will harm no one.

The sixth is Right Effort: You must resolve and strive heroically to prevent any evil qualities from arising in you and to abandon any evil qualities that you may possess. Strive to acquire good qualities and encourage those you do possess to grow, increase, and be perfected.

The seventh is Right Contemplation: Be observant, strenuous, alert, contemplative, and free of desire and of sorrow.

The eighth is Right Meditation: When you have abandoned all sensuous pleasures, all evil qualities, both joy and sorrow, you must then enter the four degrees of meditation, which are produced by concentration.

5 Precepts to follow

1. Kill no living thing.

2. Do not steal.

3. Do not commit adultery.

4. Tell no lies.

5. Do not drink intoxicants or take drugs.

Other Precepts that apply to Monks and Nuns

1. Eat moderately and only at the appointed time.

2. Avoid that which excites the senses.

3. Do not wear adornments.

4. Do not sleep in luxurious beds.

5. Accept no silver or gold.

Scripture

Southeast Asia:

Vinaya Pitaka-contains rules

Sutta Pitaka-contains discourses of Buddha

Abidhamma Pitaka- Contains Buddha Theology

Mahayana

5,000 volumes of Holy writings.

Who is a Buddhist?

Who is a Buddhist?