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Theravada Buddhism Essentials

Buddhism first arose in India in the 5th century BCE and was founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha. The Buddha taught that all life involves suffering, that suffering is caused by craving, and that suffering can only be ended by eliminating craving, which is achieved through a disciplined moral and meditative lifestyle. By the 3rd century BCE, the key doctrines of Theravada Buddhism had taken form, including the "Four Noble Truths" about the nature of suffering and its cessation. Theravada Buddhism emphasizes phenomenalism and seeing all things as impermanent and in constant flux, and achieving a state of Nirvana by abandoning

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Fitzcarl Reid
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21 views1 page

Theravada Buddhism Essentials

Buddhism first arose in India in the 5th century BCE and was founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha. The Buddha taught that all life involves suffering, that suffering is caused by craving, and that suffering can only be ended by eliminating craving, which is achieved through a disciplined moral and meditative lifestyle. By the 3rd century BCE, the key doctrines of Theravada Buddhism had taken form, including the "Four Noble Truths" about the nature of suffering and its cessation. Theravada Buddhism emphasizes phenomenalism and seeing all things as impermanent and in constant flux, and achieving a state of Nirvana by abandoning

Uploaded by

Fitzcarl Reid
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Buddhism In India

been influential, have never seriously shaken th e h old of th e


form of B uddhism w hich C eylon looks on as particularly its
own.
It is probable th a t, by th e en d of th e th ird century b . c . ,
th e doctrines of T heravada B uddhism w ere in essentials
m uch as they are now. T h e m onks ta u g h t a dynam ic ph e
nom enalism , m aintaining th a t everything in th e universe,
including th e gods an d th e souls of living beings, was in a
co n stan t state of flux. R esistance to th e cosmic flux of p h e
nom ena, an d craving for perm anence w here perm anence
could n o t be found, led to inevitable sorrow. Salvation was
to be obtain ed by th e progressive ab a n d o n m en t of th e sense
of individuality, until it was lost com pletely in th e indescrib
able state know n as N irvana (Pali, N ibbdna, blow ing o u t ) .
T h e B uddha him self h ad reached this state, an d no longer
existed as an individual; nevertheless h e was still rath er in
consistently revered by his followers, an d th e less-learned
B uddhist layfolk ten d ed to look on him as a sort of high god.

ESSENTIALS OF THERAVADA BUDDHI SM


T h e fundam ental tru th s on w hich B uddhism is founded are
n o t m etaphysical or theological, b u t rather psychological.
Basic is th e doctrine of th e F our N oble T ru th s : i ) th a t
all life is inevitably sorrowful; 2 ) th a t sorrow is du e to crav
ing; 3 ) th a t it can only be stopped by th e stopping of crav
ing; an d 4 ) th a t this can only be done by a course of care
fully disciplined an d m oral conduct, culm inating in th e life
o f concentration and m editation led by th e B uddhist m onk.
T hese four tru th s, w hich are th e com m on property of all
schools of B uddhist th o u g h t, are p a rt of th e true D o ctrin e
(Pali, dham m a; Skt. dharm a), w hich reflects th e fu n d a
m ental m oral law of th e universe.^
The word dharma is employed in Buddhism a little differently
from its use in Hinduism, and is strictly untranslatable in English.
One leading authority has translated it as the Norm ; in our ex
tracts it is translated the Doctrine, Righteousness, or The
Law of Righteousness according to context. The term dharma in
Buddhism also has other connotations. Phenomena in general are
dharmas, as are the qualities and characteristics of phenomena. Thus

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