Buddhism

• Buddhism:

  • atheist religion
  • festivals - Vesak, Sangha day, Dharma day
  • sacred text - the Tipitaka
  • followers - 360 million
  • founder - The Buddha
  • place of worship - Vihara
  • language - Pali
  • divisions - Theraveda, Mahayana, Tibetan/Vajrayana
  • main location - SE Asia
  • origin - 520 BCE
  • found - NE India
  • size - 4th largest in the world
• The Four Sights:

  • an elderly person
  • an old person
  • a dead person
  • a holy man at peace
• Enlightenment - a moment of total understanding/ a realisation of the total truth
• The Buddha (originally Siddhartha Gautama):

  • was a prince who spent the start of his life in a palace and was sheltered from suffering
  • one day he went out and saw The 4 Sights
  • he dedicated his life to find the answer to suffering
  • he found enlightenment. he did (as a part of his journey) self-mortification and meditation
• The 4 Noble Truths:

  1. the facts:
  2. there will always be some form of suffering in life or a feeling that life isn't perfect
  3. 2. the reasons
  4. suffering is cause by craving; this cannot bring happiness as things always change
  5. 3. the answer
  6. accept that things change. treasure each moment, living on the best way you can. do not be self-centred. if you live in a good way and help others, you will be happy
  7. 4. how to do this
  8. follow the Eightfold Path. this path sets out the Buddha's guidance on how to live so you are at peace with yourself and the world
• Samsara


  The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth
• The Buddha changed karma from ritual action to the thought of that action, so the intent of that action was more important than the action itself
• The Buddha's take on the ancient ideas of karma offered Ordinary People a way to a better moral life, he helped to create the belief that action and intention in our everyday lives had real consequences
• The Buddha had revolutionized ethics, we could no longer blame any external Force like a God for our decisions, we were entirely responsible for our own moral condition
• The community of disciples who shared the Buddha's mission and wandering lifestyle acquired a name - the Sangha
• Those who became monks were very highly intelligent and highly spiritual, they had the clear intention and comprehension of why they became a monk, so they never did anything wrong
• There are 227 rules for monks enacted every day
• At the very beginning, women were regarded as a bit of a burden because they needed protecting, but the logic that Liberation should be available to all meant that they had to be included
• The Buddha himself eventually declared that nuns should be part of the Sangha
• Rules of the Sangha


  • Eminently practical
  • Self-discipline and resourcefulness are enshrined into daily life
• What monks are allowed to have

  • 8 possessions
  • 3 robes
• Reason for monks to get food from outside


  Monks have to depend on the people and society, so they have gratefulness and gratitude, and they return compassion and wisdom to the people
• Monks


  • They can be a guide to the people, to the path of wisdom, peace and happiness
  • Apart from that, they have no other connection or relations to the lay people whatsoever
• Reason for monks to leave family life

  Family life is always full of miseries, obstacles and troubles, so one cannot practice a simple holy life in order to achieve spiritual heights
• The Buddha is said to have acknowledged the grief he caused his family and proclaimed that monks needed parental permission to join
• Buddhism is sometimes criticized for only benefiting the practitioner and seeing social and family bonds as attachments to the world and a barrier to achieving Nirvana
• The Buddha: 'Let no one deceive another nor despise anyone anywhere as a mother protects her child with boundless loving kindness, cherish the world, love without limit'
• Having achieved Nirvana, the Buddha had no fear of death, his suffering had ended with the moment of his Enlightenment
• The Buddha's message remains the same - that whilst change is inevitable, we all have the power to direct that change by gaining wisdom and reducing suffering
• The Buddha offers practical solutions to help overcome the desires and delusions which fuel hatred, jealousy, and greed, and his greatest gift is the message of compassion, empathy, and knowing who we truly are
• The Eightfold Path:

  • Right understanding/right view
  • see and understand things as they are
  • Right thought/right intention
  • no desire, no anger, no cruelty
  • Right speech
  • lying is wrong, gossip is bad, harsh words are bad
  • Right action
  • act kind, be honest, respect others' belongings, respect relationships
  • Right livelihood
  • earn in a righteous, peaceful way
  • Right effort
  • put true effort into the right things
  • Right mindfulness
  • mental ability to see things as they are
  • Right contmeplation/right concentration
  • meditation
• Nirvana: a place of no suffering
• The Sangha: Buddhist community made up of monks and nuns, who
• Bikkhu/Bhikkhunis:

  • shave head - frees them from concern about appearance and individuality
  • have to ask for food; renounced the world
  • devoted to the dhamma (based upon the actions and teachings of the Buddha)
  • meditation
  • don't eat after noon - stops over-occupation with food
  • vegetarian
  • spiritual help/guidance
  • yellow robes - leaves about to fall from tree (letting go)

  Possessions:

  • do not have money
  • only have basic items
  • robes, belt, razor, begging bowl, strainer, toothpick and a needle and thread

  Life in the Monastery:

  • walking/sitting meditation
  • puja
• The Day a Young Boy becomes a novice:

  • around age 4-5
  • boy is dressed as price - celebration
  • after, head is shaved and simple clothes are worn
  • may spend time at monastery
  • helps to understand significance of tradition
  • may enter monastery up to 3 times in their life
• anatta -concept of no soul/no fixed self
• karma: the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences
• The cycle of rebirth is called SAMSARA. During your life, you must accumulate good KARMA to end up in a good realm. the escape from samsara is called NIRVANA.
• Dharmachakra - has 8 spokes to represent the eightfold path
• The Triratra - image of 3 jewels - representing the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha
• Lotus represents karma. the lotus seeds and flowers simultaneously, teaching that effects are created at the same time as causes are made. beautiful flowers grow from the muddiest waters; showing even negative karma can be reworked to have positive results.