Buddhism

Klamborowski
Buddhism is one of the world's largest religions and
originated 2,500 years ago in India. Buddhists believe that
the human life is one of suffering, and that meditation,
spiritual and physical labor, and good behavior are the ways
to achieve enlightenment, or nirvana.
Buddhism is an Indian religion based on a series of original
teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha. It originated in ancient
India as a Sramana tradition sometime between the 6th and 4th
centuries BCE, spreading through much of Asia.

Buddhism began in India with the birth of Buddhism developed in Nepal

Gautama Buddha or the “Enlightened One”
Nepal is a landlocked country located in South
Asia.
History of Buddhism:
Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, was born in 563 BCE in
contemporary Nepal in the Kshatriya caste.
“Buddha” means “someone who has awakened from sleep.”
Buddhists see the Buddha’s Great Awakening as the greatest discovery of Truth
that has ever been made.
Buddhists seek to use the Buddha’s example & his teachings so that they too
may wake up and realize the benefits of Awakening (or Enlightenment).
Siddhartha’s father was the governor/leader in foothills region of the
Himalayas.
Think of Buddha as the Hindu version of Martin Luther-not out to start his own
ideas, but rather REFORM existing Hinduism.
The Buddha’s Early Life:
His father, Suddhodana, was the ruler of the Sakya In 534 BCE he left his wife, at 29, he left his kingdom and
people & Siddhartha grew up living the newborn son to lead an ascetic life and determine a way to
extravagant life of a young prince. relieve universal suffering. (moksha)
According to the story, he was conceived when his He wandered the Ganges River Valley in search of Truth.
mother dreamed one night that a white elephant
entered her right side. He renounced his wealth & privileged status.

• Later, the baby was born from her right He begged for food
side, and right after birth the baby stood
He lived simply as a hermit
up and announced that this would be his
last life. He also studied meditation for a year or two under different
According to custom, he married at the young age of teachers, but in the end, he abandoned their tutelage
sixteen to a girl named Yasodhara. because it did not suit him.

His father had ordered that he live a life of total • His last tutor stressed fasting & self-torture
seclusion, but one day Siddhartha ventured out as a means to attain enlightenment.
into the world & was confronted with the reality • This process left him week in mind and
of the inevitable suffering of life. body& the Buddha almost died of starvation.
His father did not want him to see suffering, death, or
age. According to the story, he kept him inside
the place and away from the suffering in the
world.
According to Buddhist legend, he sat under the
large Bodh Gaya tree (Indian fig tree), to
rest/contemplate in the cool shade.
• The Buddha decided to remain until he
understood the problem of suffering.
• He sat for 49 days in mediation
• Demons tempted him with pleasures & terrors,
but Gautama prevailed by attaining
Enlightenment.
• He “woke up” (become Enlightened) and
understood the techniques to elevate
suffering, called the Middle Path.
Buddhism Clip
The Life Of The Buddha Full BBC Mountain village in Nepal:
Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
B1Qhja4OhdM&t=284s

LadyHedonist. (2013, September 29). The

Life Of The Buddha Full BBC
Documentary [Video].
YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=B1Qhja4OhdM
Story of Buddha:
Enlightenment. One day, seated beneath the Bodhi tree
(the tree of awakening) Siddhartha became deeply
absorbed in meditation, and reflected on his experience
of life, determined to penetrate its truth. He finally
achieved Enlightenment and became the Buddha.

Enlightenment-
Buddha
understood the
problem of
suffering & the
means that
humans could
eliminate it from
their respective
lives
The Ganges or Ganga is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows
through India and Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in
the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the
Gangetic plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the
Bay of Bengal.

The Middle Way

He found the “Middle Way”-a path

between normal human life of
sensation, desire and action on one
hand and the life of harsh
asceticism on the other.
The Middle Way, in Buddhism,
complement of general and specific
ethical practices & philosophical
views that are said to facilitate
enlightenment by avoiding the
extremes of self-gratification on one
hand and self-mortification on the
other.
The Middle Way of Gautama Buddha:

Buddhism began in India with the birth of Gautama Buddha or

the “Enlightened One”
It is another ascetic & monastic religion that arose in ancient
India.
It would spread outside of India & be very important in Asia &
around the world.
Buddhism has some basic similarities to Janism, but it’s root
idea were profoundly different. Buddhism was a reaction to the
strict Brahmic Hinduism of the age.
Buddhist doctrines seem very modern in certain ways, which
probably accounts for Buddhism’s appeal to non-Indian peoples
in the contemporary era.
Simply, many of the issues the Buddha hoped to elevated are
problems that modern people struggle to manage.
Buddha's teachings. It was these four principles that the
Buddha came to understand during his meditation under
the bodhi tree.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/beliefs/fournobletruths_1.shtml

4 Noble Truths
All human life contains suffering and sorrow
2. A greedy desire for only pleasure and
material things causes suffering and sorrow
3. Renouncing desires frees people from
suffering and helps their souls attain
Nirvana, or perfect peace, which frees the
soul from the endless cycle of reincarnation
4. Following the 8 Fold Path leads to
renunciation or denial of desire and
attainment of Nirvana
The 8 Fold Path consists of eight guides to
conduct and thought
EX: Right views-seeing life as it is with its
imperfections
Right speech-avoid lying and gossiping
Buddha, Suffering & Dharma:
Buddha started teaching his ideas Dharma is a key concept with multiple meanings
in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism,
in 528 BCE Jainism, Sikhism and others.

The whole philosophy, which the

•Eventually he died 483 BCE Buddha taught to others, and the
•He accepted the Hindu idea of Transmigration of Souls religious way of life to which those
(reincarnation)
• good =good & evil=evil. ideas lead is referred to in Buddhism
•The Buddha saw that the impulse to crave, desire, or
as the Dharma.
grasp something one doesn’t have is the principal cause of
suffering. Because of the impermanence and continuous
change of all that we call “reality,” the attempt to hold on It is possible to put an end to ego-
to it is as doomed to frustration as the attempt to stake
out a piece of a river. centered desire, to put an end of
•The root of Dharma for Hindus is “religious law,” but suffering & thus attain freedom
Dharma for Buddhists has a much broader meaning.
from the perpetual sense of
•It is more like a life pattern/life style.
“unsatisfactoriness.”
https://hwpi.harvard.edu/files/pluralism/files/the_dharma-
the_teachings_of_the_buddha_1.pdf\
Hinduism/Buddhism &
Dharma:
The dharmachakra or wheel of dharma is a
widespread symbol used in Indian religions
such as Hinduism, Jainism, and especially
Buddhism. Historically, the dharmachakra was
In Hinduism, Dharma is often used as a decoration in Buddhist temples,
statues and inscriptions, beginning with the
the religious and moral earliest period of Indian Buddhism to the
present.
law governing
individual conduct and
is one of the four ends
of life.
In Buddhism, Dharma is
the doctrine, the
universal truth common
to all individuals at all
times, proclaimed by
the Buddha.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/beliefs/fournobletruths_1.shtml

8 Fold Path:
1. Right Understanding - Sammā ditthi
• Accepting Buddhist teachings. (The Buddha never intended his followers to believe his teachings
blindly, but to practise them and judge for themselves whether they were true.)

2. Right Intention - Sammā san̄kappa

• A commitment to cultivate the right attitudes.

3. Right Speech - Sammā vācā

• Speaking truthfully, avoiding slander, gossip and abusive speech.

4. Right Action - Sammā kammanta

• Behaving peacefully and harmoniously; refraining from stealing, killing and overindulgence in sensual
pleasure.

5. Right Livelihood - Sammā ājīva

• Avoiding making a living in ways that cause harm, such as exploiting people or killing animals, or
trading in intoxicants or weapons.

6. Right Effort - Sammā vāyāma

• Cultivating positive states of mind; freeing oneself from evil and unwholesome states and preventing
them arising in future.

7. Right Mindfulness - Sammā sati

• Developing awareness of the body, sensations, feelings and states of mind.

8. Right Concentration - Sammā samādhi

• Developing the mental focus necessary for this awareness.
Buddhism after Buddha:

In the 3rd century BCE Buddhism become popular with rulers and
wealthy merchants due to its message from the escape of
suffering and its rejection of the caste system.
It would maintain an important position for several hundred
years, but other religious would surpass it in popular appeal.
Later the Brahmans-leaders in Hinduism-would push back and
try to limit its success.
Buddhism changed somewhat at this moment when followers
thought they should imitate the Buddha directly by trying to
relieve others suffering w/ the message of the Dharma.
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is any person who is on the path towards Buddhahood. In
the Early Buddhist schools as well as modern Theravada Buddhism, a bodhisattva
refers to anyone who has made a resolution to become a Buddha and has also
received a confirmation or prediction from a living Buddha that this will be so.

Seated Bodhisattva,
Avalokiteśvara, or Guanyin,
China, 11th century.
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/foundations/what-bodhisattva

Definition
of bodhisattva
: a being that
compassionately refrains
from entering nirvana in
order to save others and is
worshipped as a deity in
Mahayana Buddhism
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bodhisattva
Earlier forms of Buddhism Buddhism would become more than just a
focused on their salvation of religious, or philosophical idea-it would become a
way of life/life style/philosophy.
the individual, while this later
focus stressed salvation, but •Over time, men and women would join the
faithful
also bodhisattvas -which
were people who postponed •They would have thousands of monks/nuns &
their own entry into the build monasteries for them to live and to
promote the philosophy.
final nirvana in order to act
as examples for others. • In some cases, the monasteries became to
focus of learning & a way-station for travelers.
•They acted as a
guide/teacher
Buddhism would travel with missionaries to
•Compassionate & caring China, Afghanistan, Tibet and south east Asia on
the Silk Road. The Silk road would prove
example of self-sacrifice important in not only trading goods, but also
similar to the actions of the spreading ideas.
Buddha.
The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th-century monumental statues of Gautama
Buddha carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley of central Afghanistan,
northwest of Kabul at an elevation of 8,200 ft. Carbon dating of the structural
components of the Buddhas has determined that the smaller 125 ft "Eastern Buddha"
was built around 570 AD, and the larger 180 ft "Western Buddha" was built around
618 AD.

Taliban leaders had originally pledged not to harm

Cliff Buddhas of Bamiyan: Afghanistan’s cultural heritage. In 2001, frustrated by a
lack of international recognition and increased U.S.
sanctions, they reneged on that promise.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/the-daring-
journey-to-reach-afghanistans-famous-buddhas
In March 2001, the Taliban placed explosives at the base of the Buddhas and
reduced them to a pile of rubble.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/the-daring-journey-to-reach-afghanistans-famous-buddhas
Zen Buddhism:
Zen Buddhism is a mixture of Indian Mahayana Buddhism & Daoism. It began
in China, spread to Korea and Japan, and became very popular in the West
from the mid 20th century.
The essence of Zen is attempting to understand the meaning of life directly,
without being misled by logical thought or language.
Zen techniques are compatible with other faiths and are often used, for
example, by Christians seeking a mystical understanding of their faith.
The essential element of Zen Buddhism is found in its
name, for zen means “meditation.” Zen teaches that
enlightenment is achieved through the profound
realization that one is already an enlightened being.
Zen often seems paradoxical - it requires an intense discipline which, when
practiced properly, results in total spontaneity and ultimate freedom. This
natural spontaneity should not be confused with impulsiveness.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/subdivisions/zen_1.shtml

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/zen/hdzen.htm
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aarakshan-nepal.html
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recognized/
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