BUDDHISM

1. BUDDHISM FOUNDER, CASTE PROBLEM, GEOGRAPHIC DISPERSMENT, SACRED SCRIPTURES, VOCABULARY, BUDDHIST SCHOOLS, BASIC TEACHINGS, SYMBOLS, AND DEITIES

2. FOUNDER • Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, was born in the sixth century BC in what is now modern Nepal. His father, Suddhodana, was the ruler of the Sakya people and Siddhartha grew up living the extravagant life of a young prince. • According to custom, he married at the young age of sixteen to a girl named Yasodhara. His father had ordered that he live a life of total seclusion, but one day Siddhartha ventured out into the world and was confronted with the reality of the inevitable suffering of life. • The next day, at the age of twenty-nine, he left his kingdom and newborn son to lead an ascetic life and determine a way to relieve universal suffering.

3. FOUNDER… • The birthplace of the Gautama Buddha, Lumbini, is the Mecca of every Buddhist, being one of the four holy places of Buddhism: the sites of his birth, enlightenment, first discourse, and death.

4. FOUNDER… • For six years, Siddhartha submitted himself to rigorous ascetic practices, studying and following different methods of meditation with various religious teachers. But he was never fully satisfied. • One day, however, he was offered a bowl of rice from a young girl and he accepted it. In that moment, he realized that physical austerities were not the means to achieve liberation. • From then on, he encouraged people to follow a path of balance rather than extremism. He called this The Middle Way.

5. FOUNDER… • That night Siddhartha sat under the Bodhi tree, and meditated until dawn. • He purified his mind of all defilements and attained enlightenment at the age of thirty-five, thus earning the title Buddha, or "Enlightened One". • For the remainder of his eighty years, the Buddha preached the Dharma in an effort to help other sentient beings reach enlightenment.

6. FOUNDER… • One happy morning, while he was deeply absorbed in meditation, unaided and unguided by any supernatural power and solely relying on his efforts and wisdom, he eradicated all defilements, purified himself, and, realizing things as they truly are, attained Enlightenment (Buddhahood) at the age of 35. • He was not born a Buddha (An Awakened or Enlightened One), but he became a Buddha by his own striving. • As the perfect embodiment of all the virtues he preached, endowed with deep wisdom commensurate with his boundless compassion. • He devoted the remainder of his precious life to serve humanity both by example and precept, dominated by no personal motive whatever.

7. FOUNDER… • The Buddha was a human being. As a man he was born, as a man he lived, and as a man his life came to an end. Though a human being, he became an extraordinary man (acchariya manussa), but he never arrogated to himself divinity. • The Buddha is neither an incarnation of the Hindu God Vishnu, as is believed by some, nor is he a savior who freely saves others by his personal salvation. The Buddha exhorts his disciples to depend on themselves for their deliverance, for both purity and defilement depend on oneself.

8. FOUNDER… • Furthermore, the Buddha does not claim the monopoly of Buddhahood which, as a matter of fact, is not the prerogative of any specially graced person. He reached the highest possible state of perfection any person could aspire to, and without the close-fist of a teacher he revealed the only straight path that leads thereto. • According to the Teaching of the Buddha anybody may aspire to that supreme state of perfection if he makes the necessary exertion. The Buddha does not condemn men by calling them wretched sinners, but, on the contrary, he gladdens them by saying that they are pure in heart at conception.

9. FOUNDER… • One who aspires to become a Buddha is called a Bodhisatta, which, literally, means a wisdom-being. • According to Buddhism, this Bodhisatta ideal is the most beautiful and the most refined course of life that has ever been presented to this ego-centric world, for what is nobler than a life of service and purity?

10. CASTE PROBLEM • Caste, which was a matter of vital importance to the brahmins of India, was one of utter indifference to the Buddha, who strongly condemned the debasing caste system. • In his Order of Monks all castes unite as do the rivers in the sea. They lose their former names, castes, and clans, and become known as members of one community, the Sangha. • The Buddha freely admitted into the Order people from all castes and classes when he knew that they were fit to live the holy life, and some of them later distinguished themselves in the Order. • The Buddha was the only contemporary teacher who endeavored to blend in mutual tolerance and concord those who hitherto had been rent asunder by differences of caste and class.

11. GEOGRAPHIC DISPERSMENT MAP AND STATISTICS

12. COMPARATIVE MAP

13. STATISTICS

14. STATISTICS…

15. SACRED SCRIPTURES THE PALI CANON

16. PALI CANON • The Tripitaka [Sanskrit] [Pali: Tipitaka] is the Canon of the Buddhists, both Theravada and Mahayana. • Thus it is possible to speak of several Canons such as the Sthaviravada, Sarvastivada and Mahayana as well as in term of languages like Pali, Chinese and Tibetan. • The word is used basically to refer to the literature, the authorship of which is directly or indirectly ascribed to the Buddha himself.

17. PALI CANON… • The Pali Canon is the only set of scriptures preserved in the language of its composition. It is called the Tipitaka or "Three Baskets" because it includes the Vinaya Pitaka or "Basket of Discipline," the Sutta Pitaka or "Basket of Discourses," and the Abhidhamma Pitaka or "Basket of Higher Teachings".

19. The Vinaya Pitaka which is regarded as the sheet anchor to the oldest historic celibate order — the Sangha — mainly deals with rules and regulations which the Buddha promulgated, as occasion arose, for the future discipline of the Order of monks (Bhikkhus) and nuns (Bhikkunis) The Vinaya Pitaka consists of the five following books: (Vibhanga): Parajika Pali — Major Offenses Pacittiya Pali — Minor Offenses (Khandaka): Mahavagga Pali — Greater Section Cullavagga Pali — Shorter Section Parivara Pali — Epitome of the Vinaya VINAYA PITAKA

20. The Sutta Pitaka consists chiefly of discourses, delivered by the Buddha himself on various occasions. This Pitaka is divided into five Nikayas or collections: Digha Nikaya (Collection of Long Discourses). Majjhima Nikaya (Collection of Middle-Length Discourses). Samyutta Nikaya (Collection of Kindred Sayings). Anguttara Nikaya (Collection of Discourses arranged in accordance with numbers). Khuddaka Nikaya (Smaller Collection). SUTTA PITAKA

21. The fifth is subdivided into fifteen books: Khuddaka Patha (Shorter texts) Dhammapada (Way of Truth) Udana (Paeans of Joy) Iti Vuttaka ("Thus said" Discourses) Sutta Nipata (Collected Discourses) Vimana Vatthu (Stories of Celestial Mansions) Peta Vatthu (Stories of Petas) Theragatha (Psalms of the Brethren) Therigatha (Psalms of the Sisters) Jataka (Birth Stories) Niddesa (Expositions) Patisambhida Magga (Analytical Knowledge) Apadana (Lives of Arahats) Buddhavamsa (The History of the Buddha) Cariya Pitaka (Modes of Conduct) SUTA PITAKA…

22. ABHIDHAMMA PITAKA • The Abhidhamma Pitaka is the most important and the most interesting of the three, containing as it does the profound philosophy of the Buddha's Teaching in contrast to the illuminating and simpler discourses in the Sutta Pitaka. • In the Sutta Pitaka is found the conventional teaching (vohara desana) while in the Abhidhamma Pitaka is found the ultimate teaching (paramattha-desana).

23. ABHIDHAMMA PITAKA… • To the wise, Abhidhamma is an indispensable guide; to the spiritually evolved, an intellectual treat; and to research scholars, food for thought. Consciousness is defined. • Thoughts are analyzed and classified chiefly from an ethical standpoint. • Mental states are enumerated. • The composition of each type of consciousness is set forth in detail. • How thoughts arise, is minutely described.

24. ABHIDHAMMA PITAKA… • The Abhidhamma investigates mind and matter, the two composite factors of the so-called being, to help the understanding of things as they truly are, and a philosophy has been developed on those lines. • Based on that philosophy, an ethical system has been evolved, to realize the ultimate goal, Nibbana.

25. ABHIDHAMMA PITAKA… • The Abhidhamma Pitaka consists of seven books: • Dhammasangani (Classification of Dhammas) • Vibhanga (The book of Divisions) • Katha-Vatthu (Points of Controversy) • Puggala-Paññatti (Descriptions of Individuals) • Dhatu-Katha (Discussion with reference to elements) • Yamaka (The Book of Pairs) • Patthana (The Book of Relations)

26. VOCABULARY

29. BUDDHIST SCHOOLS MAHAYANA, THERAVADA, TIBETAN AND ZEN

31. MAHAYANA SCHOOL (200 BCE) • The Mahayana is more of an umbrella body for a great variety of schools, from the Tantra school (the secret teaching of Yoga) well represented in Tibet and Nepal to the Pure Land sect, whose essential teaching is that salvation can be attained only through absolute trust in the saving power of Amitabha, longing to be reborn in his paradise through his grace, which are found in China, Korea and Japan. • Ch'an and Zen Buddhism, of China and Japan, are meditation schools.

32. MAHAYANA SCHOOL… • It is generally accepted, that what we know today as the Mahayana arose from the Mahasanghikas who took up the cause of their new sect with zeal and enthusiasm and soon grew in power and popularity. • They adapted the existing monastic rules and thus revolutionized the Buddhist Order of Monks and made alterations in the arrangements and interpretation of the Sutra (Discourses) and the Vinaya (Rules) texts. • And they rejected certain portions of the canon, which had been accepted in the First Council.

33. MAHAYANA SCHOOL… • According to it, the Buddhas are lokottara (supramundane) and are connected only externally with the worldly life. • This conception of the Buddha contributed much to the growth of the Mahayana philosophy. • The ideal of the Mahayana school is that of the Bodhisattva, a person who delays his or her own enlightenment in order to compassionately assist all other beings and ultimately attains to the highest Bodhi.

34. THERAVADA SCHOOL (100 BCE) • The earliest available teachings of the Buddha are to be found in Pali literature and belongs to the school of the Theravadins, who may be called the most orthodox school of Buddhism. • This school admits the human characteristics of the Buddha, and is characterized by a psychological understanding of human nature and emphasizes a meditative approach to the transformation of consciousness. • The teaching of the Buddha according to this school is very plain. He asks us to 'abstain from all kinds of evil, to accumulate all that is good and to purify our mind'. • These can be accomplished by The Three Trainings: the development of ethical conduct, meditation and insight-wisdom.

35. THERAVADA SCHOOL… • The philosophy of this school is that all worldly phenomena are subject to three characteristics - they are impermanent and transient; unsatisfactory and that there is nothing in them which can be called one's own, nothing substantial, nothing permanent. • All compounded things are made up of two elements - the non-material part and the material part.

36. THERAVADA SCHOOL… • They are further described as consisting of nothing but five constituent groups, namely the material quality, and the four non-material qualities - sensations, perception, mental formatives and consciousness. • When that perfected state of insight is reached, i.e. Nibanna, that person is a 'worthy person' an Arhat. • The life of the Arhat is the ideal of the followers of this school, a life where all (future) birth is at an end, where the holy life is fully achieved, where all that has to be done has been done, and there is no more returning to the worldly life'.

37. TIBETAN SCHOOL • This is the kind of Buddhism predominant in the Himalayan nations of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and also Mongolia. It is known as Vajrayana because of the ritual use of the vajra, a symbol of imperishable diamond, of thunder and lightning. At the center of Tibetan Buddhism is the religious figure called the lama, Tibetan for "guru"," source of another of its names, Lamaism.

38. TIBETAN SCHOOL… • His Holiness the 14th the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, is the head of state and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He was born 6 July 1935 in a small village in northeastern Tibet to a peasant family. • His Holiness was recognized at the age of two, in accordance with Tibetan tradition, as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama, and thus an incarnation Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion.

41. ZEN BUDDHISM • Bodhidharma, an Indian monk who settled in China in the 6th century A.D., is the founder of Ch'an (Chinese Zen Buddhism). It is said when he first came to the Shaolin monastery in China, he practiced zazen (sitting meditation) facing a wall for several years. • “Zen” is a mere word, symbol... an illusion. • There is an old story of a man who sought enlightenment and traveled great distances to find a particular Zen master. Upon finding this Zen master, he kindly asked if he would "teach him the path to enlightenment."  The Zen master replied "I have nothing to teach."

42. ZAZEN

43. ZEN BUDDHISM… • Zen practice involves letting go of preconceptions, dualistic thinking, religious abstractions and any other false categories of thought. • It is a way of simply seeing life without abstractions and preconceptions, and thus can enhance and clarify any religious faith.   • There is no doctrine, no system of beliefs in Zen. Zen is spontaneity in living. A transformation of our consciousness. To transform the way we experience right now...   right here. • Zen might be defined as waking up in the present.  It's an experience that defies abstractions, an awakening to just this, what is here, now, and seeing it as for the first time in every moment. 

44. BASIC TEACHINGS THE DHAMMA, THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, THE PATH TO NIBANNA (PALI) NIRVANA (SANSKRIT), KAMMA (PALI) KARMA (SANSKRIT)

45. THE DHAMMA • The non-aggressive, moral and philosophical system expounded by the Buddha, which demands no blind faith from its adherents, expounds no dogmatic creeds, encourages no superstitious rites and ceremonies, but advocates a golden mean that guides a disciple through pure living and pure thinking to the gain of supreme wisdom and deliverance from all evil, is called the Dhamma and is popularly known as Buddhism.

46. THE DHAMMA… • The Dhamma he taught is not merely to be preserved in books, nor is it a subject to be studied from an historical or literary standpoint. On the contrary it is to be learnt and put into practice in the course of one's daily life, for without practice one cannot appreciate the truth. • The Dhamma is to be studied, and more to be practiced, and above all to be realized; immediate realization is its ultimate goal. • As such the Dhamma is compared to a raft which is meant for the sole purpose of escaping from the ocean of birth and death (samsara).

47. THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS • The foundations of Buddhism are the four Noble Truths — namely, Suffering (the raison d'etre of Buddhism), its cause (i.e., Craving), its end (i.e., Nibbana, the Summum Bonum of Buddhism), and the Middle Way. • The first three truths represent the philosophy of Buddhism; the fourth represents the ethics of Buddhism, based on that philosophy.

48. FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS… • Buddhism rests on the pivot of sorrow. But it does not thereby follow that Buddhism is pessimistic. • It is neither totally pessimistic nor totally optimistic, but, on the contrary, it teaches a truth that lies midway between them. • One would be justified in calling the Buddha a pessimist if he had only enunciated the truth of suffering without suggesting a means to put an end to it. • The Buddha perceived the universality of sorrow and did prescribe a panacea for this universal sickness of humanity. • The highest conceivable happiness, according to the Buddha, is Nibbana, which is the total extinction of suffering.

49. THE PATH TO NIBANNA • It is by following the Noble Eightfold Path which consists of • Right Understanding (samma-ditthi), • Right Thoughts (samma-sankappa), • Right Speech (samma-vaca), • Right Actions (samma-kammanta), • Right Livelihood (samma-ajiva), • Right Effort (samma-vayama), • Right Mindfulness (samma-sati), and • Right Concentration (samma-samadhi).

50. KAMMA • There is nothing in this world that happens by blind chance or accident. To say that anything happens by chance, is no more true than that this book has come here of itself. Strictly speaking, nothing happens to man that he does not deserve for some reason or another. • From a Buddhist standpoint, our present mental, intellectual, moral and temperamental differences are mainly due to our own actions and tendencies, both past the present. • We reap what we have sown. What we sow we reap somewhere or some when.