Buddhism

-Buddhism is still popular in India, and has spread to all of Asia and around the world.

-Stresses the humanity of their teacher (rather than divinity); teaches non-violence; and developed monastic traditions of celibacy and asceticism.

-Buddhism is the second fastest growing religion in the world today.

-Buddha means “someone who has awakened from sleep” – The Enlightened One.

-Buddha’s “Great Awakening” resulted in his discovery of the eternal secret of the meaning of life.

Siddartha Gautama: Early Life

-The founder of Buddhism came from a kshatriya family, and he gave up his privileged position to seek enlightenment.

-He was born Siddartha Gautama around 563 BC in a small state in the foothills of the Himalayas in what today would be Nepal.

-His wealthy father kept his son in a sheltered life of luxury, determined that he would never know hardship.

-Siddhartha married his cousin and excelled in his studies; he was being groomed by his father to succeed him as governor of the province.

Humans and Suffering

-Siddhartha Gautama became unsatisfied with his comfortable life, and on short journeys in his chariot around the palace, he became aware for the first time of the frailty and mortality of humans.

-He saw the four sights: A old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a holy man.

-He witnessed more and more misery and suffering amongst the ordinary people he would rule over, and learned of monks who had withdrawn from the world to lead holy lives and try to perfect their souls.

-He became determined to take up the ascetic life himself, and wandered the land in the hope it would give him insight into suffering.

Search for Enlightenment

-About 524 BC, Siddhartha left his wife and young child and his luxurious home to lead the life of a holy man (inspired by a monk he met).

-He wandered the Ganges Valley seeking enlightenment about the apparent inevitability of suffering.

-He lived the life of an extreme ascetic, practicing virtual starvation and intense meditation.

-However, none of these tactics gave him the answers he was seeking.

Siddhartha as a Meditating Ascetic

Enlightenment Under the Banyan Tree

-He eventually abandoned asceticism as it was leading nowhere and took up what he called the “Middle Path”.

-According to legend, he sat down under a huge banyan (bo) tree to meditate, determined to stay seated until he understood the problem of human suffering.

-For 49 days, he sat in meditation, tempted by demons with the pleasures of the flesh.

-Just before dawn on the 50th day, he gained the insights he had sought for so long – how to eliminate suffering.

-At that point he became the Buddha – “The Enlightened One”

Disciples and Death-The Buddha quickly attracted disciples from all over the Ganges Valley.

-He organized them into a monastic order who wore yellow robes and traveled the land preaching Buddhism and living off donations.

-For more than 40 years the Buddha himself led his disciples all over northern India.

-Around 438 BC, he died at the age of 80, leaving his disciples with a final message:

-”Decay is inherent in al component things! Work out your salvation with diligence”

The Middle Way

There is suffering.

Suffering has an origin.

Suffering can cease.

There is a pathOut of suffering.

-Buddhism is called the “Middle Way” because it lies between normal human life and desire, and extreme asceticism.

-Buddhist philosophy is called Dharma (religious good deeds leading to a good afterlife) and is based on “Four Noble Truths”

-The Four Noble Truths are:1. Suffering dominates our

experience.2. The cause of suffering is desire.3. Suffering can be disposed of by

disposing of desire, thereby attaining nirvana.

4. There is an eight-fold path that leads out of suffering to nirvana.

The Noble Eight-Fold Path to Nirvana-Eight-fold path calls for humans to lead balanced and moderate lives, rejecting both the devotion to luxury found in so many human societies and the extreme asceticism of monks and hermits.

-The Noble Eight-Fold Path to Nirvana includes:1. Right Viewpoint: which means having the right attitude to life such as

understanding the Four Noble Truths.2. Right Values or Intentions: which means being considerate and compassionate,

rather than selfish and competitive.3. Right Speech: which means avoiding anger, aggression, exaggeration, lies, and

gossip.4. Right Actions: which means living honestly and not harming living things. Most

Buddhists are vegetarians).5. Right Livelihood: which means avoiding jobs which harm anyone such as trading

in weapons.6. Right Effort: which means thinking good thoughts in order to bring the mind into

a healthy state.7. Right Concentration: which means practicing calming the mind so that it becomes

free of distractions (meditation).8. Right Meditation or Mindfulness: which leads to enlightenment and nirvana.

The Social Appeal of Buddhism

-If they pursue the eight-fold path, each individual (whatever the status) could escape the cycle of reincarnation and achieve the state of nirvana (perfect spiritual independence).

-Buddhism was not originally a religion. Buddha criticized all earlier religions; he was an agnostic with no knowledge of God or gods.

-Buddhism rejected the Brahmin priests of Hinduism and their caste system.

-Buddhism was popular with merchants who often used Buddhist monasteries as inns when they traveled in northern India.

Buddhist Shrines and Stupas

The Great Stupa at Sanchi, probably constructed by Ashoka, 3rd century BC.

-Early Buddhists recognized holy sites that became places for devotion.

-Pilgrims flocked to sites associated with the life of Buddha.

-Also popular were stupas. They were shrines housing relics of the Buddha and his first disciples.

Monastic Organization-Buddhists were highly organized.

-From the days of Buddha himself, converts joined monasteries where they dedicated their lives to the search for enlightenment.

-Monasteries were paid for by gifts from devoted followers, allowing monks to spend most of their time preaching Buddhism to audiences.

-The monasteries proved to be extremely efficient at spreading Buddhism and gaining converts.

-Eventually Buddhist monasteries began to accept gifts from wealthy benefactors and regard these gifts as acts of generosity that merited salvation.

-Thus wealthy individuals could enjoy the comforts of the world, avoid the sacrifices than the monks had to make, and still ensure salvation.

Ashoka Support-The early Buddhist movement benefited immensely from the support of the Indian Mauryan dynasty.

-King Ashoka adopted Buddhism in 260 BC after being sickened by the violent war he had waged against the Kalingans.

-From that moment on he decided to pursue his aims through virtue and benevolence rather than war.

-He also felt that Buddhism could unite the members of his vast multicultural empire.

-He gave up hunting, banned animal sacrifices, and eliminated meat dishes from his table.

-He built monasteries and stupas throughout his empire, made personal pilgrimages to the holy sites of Buddhism, and sent out Buddhist missionaries to the far reaches of hisempire.

Developments in Later Buddhism-Early Buddhism made heavy demands on individuals seeking to escape the cycle of reincarnation.

-Pure Buddhism involved much sacrifice such as giving up personal property, desire for social standing, and to detach oneself from family and the world.

-Between the 3rd century BC and the 1st century AD, changes in Buddhist teachings opened new, less demanding avenues for salvation, leading to its becoming even more popular.

-The first of these developments was the deification of the Buddha. Although the Buddha said he was not a god, some of his later followers said he was and many believed he was.

The Golden Buddha

Boddhisatvas

Manjushri – The Boddhisatva of Wisdom

-The second development was the idea of the Boddhisatva (an enlightened being).

-Boddhisatvas were individuals who had reached spiritual perfection (nirvana), but who intentionally delayed their entry into nirvana to help others who were still struggling.

-Like Christian saints, boddhisatvas served as examples of spiritual excellence and inspiration.

Mahayana Buddhism-Supporters of this changed version of Buddhism called it Mahayana (the greater vehicle, which could carry more people to salvation.

-The earlier form was called Hinayana (the lesser vehicle). Today this form of Buddhism is called Theravada.

-Buddhist monks carried their faith to Central Asia, China, Japan, Korea, and SE Asia where the most followers are today.

-There are few Buddhists in India where it all started today.

Final Information

-A common symbol of Buddhism is the Lotus Flower, which has its roots in the mud at the bottom of ponds or lakes. The mud represents human life; the flower symbolizes enlightenment.

-An important collection of Buddhist writings is called the Tipitaka (the Three Baskets). It was written in the 1st century BC.

-A Buddhist monastery is called a sangha. It is the custom in some countries for boys to spend some time living as monks. The boy gives up all his possessions to join a monastery. He has his head shaved including his eyebrows, wears a monk’s robes and carries a begging bowl, his only possession while living in a monastery. He depends on the generosity of nearby outsiders to feed him every day.

Vocabulary List for Teacher

Divinity

Monastic

Celibacy

Asceticism

Siddartha Gautama

Meditation

Middle Way

Disciple

Dharma

Eight-fold Path

Nirvana

Reincarnation

Agnostic

Pilgrim

Stupa

Relic

Benefactor

Ashoka

Benevolence

Deification

Boddhisatva

Mahayana

Hinayana

Theravada

Lotus

Tipitaka

Sangha