Buddhism

• Buddha


  Siddhartha Gautama, born around 500BC in southern Nepal
• Buddha's life


  • Grew up in a life of luxury as the son of a Queen
  • Left this life inspired by the Four Sights
  • Lived an ascetic life of self-denial and pain but wasn't able to become enlightened
  • Left asceticism for the Middle Way between pain and luxury
• Four Sights


  1. An old man - everyone ages

  2. An ill man - everyone becomes ill

  3. A dead man - all things die

  4. A holy man - the only answer to these problems
• Arhat


  A 'perfected person' who has overcome the main sources of suffering
• Asceticism


  A lifestyle of strict self-denial, rejected by Siddhartha for the Middle Way
• Bodhisattva


  An enlightened person who chooses to remain in samsara to teach others
• Dependent Arising


  The idea that everything is dependent on everything else
• Dharma


  The Buddha's teachings - how to reach the state of enlightenment
• Eightfold Path


  Eight aspects of life Buddhists live by to try and reach enlightenment
• Enlightenment


  A state of spiritual wisdom which arises from understanding the nature of reality
• Four Noble Truths


  Four truths the Buddha taught about suffering and how to overcome it
• Four Sights


  Four things Siddhartha saw that inspired him to leave his life of luxury
• Jakata


  A book of popular tales about the life of the Buddha
• Meditation

  The practice of focusing or calming the mind and reflecting on teachings
• Nirvana


  A state of complete enlightenment which lies outside the cycle of samsara
• Samsara


  Cycle of life, death and re-birth
• 3 Marks of Existence

  3 Buddhist beliefs about the truth of existence
• 3 Watches


  3 realisations Siddhartha made in order to become enlightened
• Enlightenment


  Siddhartha meditated under a tree and was tempted by Mara but stayed focused

  During the Three Watches of the Night he understood: knowledge of all his previous lives, the cycle of life, death and re-birth (samsara), and that all beings suffer due to desire

  After this Siddhartha became enlightened and began to be known as Buddha
• Anicca


  The idea of impermanence - that everything constantly changes and we suffer when we resist it
• Anatta


  The idea that we don't have a fixed soul - there is no unchanging essence to us
• Four Noble Truths


  There is suffering

  2. Suffering has a cause

  3. Suffering can come to an end

  4. There is a way to end suffering
• Tanha


  Craving, one of the main causes of suffering
• Three Poisons


  Greed, hatred and ignorance, causes of suffering
• Eightfold Path


  Eight aspects that Buddhists practise and live by to overcome suffering and reach enlightenment, e.g. Right speech, Right mindfulness, Right understanding
• Theravada


  The 'lesser vehicle' as only male monks achieve enlightenment. Oldest form of Buddhism, found in southern Asia.
• Mahayana


  The 'greater vehicle' as anyone can become enlightened. Teaches sunyata or emptiness - nothing as a separate soul or self.
• Pure Land


  Mostly found in Japan, a form of Mahayana Buddhism based on faith in Amitabha Buddha and his paradise.
• Bodhisattva


  Mahayana Buddhists aim to become a Bodhisattva, someone who reaches an enlightened state but chooses to remain in the cycle of samsara to help others reach enlightenment.
• Arhat


  Theravada Buddhists aim to become an Arhat by following the Eightfold Path, a 'perfected person' who overcomes the main sources of suffering and reaches nirvana.