Buddhist key beliefs

• 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
• Three Marks of Existence


  3 Buddhist beliefs about the truth of existence
• Three Watches


  3 realisations Siddhartha made in order to become enlightened
• Enlightenment

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

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

  3. After this Siddhartha became enlightened and began to be known as Buddha
• Dukkha


  Suffering is a part of life that all people must face, Buddhists can try and overcome it
• 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

  1. There is suffering

  2. Suffering has a cause

  3. Suffering can come to an end

  4. There is a way to end suffering
• Three Poisons

  • Greed
  • Hatred
  • Ignorance
• Eightfold Path

  1. Right speech (speaking truthfully and kindly)

  2. Right mindfulness (developing awareness of the world around you)

  3. Right understanding (developing an understanding of Buddha's teachings)
• Theravada


  Known as the 'lesser vehicle' as only male monks achieve enlightenment, oldest form of Buddhism found in southern Asia
• Mahayana

  Known as 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, an Arhat is a 'perfected person' who overcomes the main sources of suffering and reaches nirvana
• what is dharma

  the teaching of buddha
• what does the dharma do

  give people a way of life and how to live in a way to achieve enlightenment
• what does dharma encourage

  follow noble eightfold path and practise meditation
• what is dharma based on

  the actions and teaching of buddha
• How does paticcasamupada affect the way a Buddhist lives their life?

  encourages Buddhists to treat people with metta (loving kindness) and has an impact on their ethical conduct and decision making.
• dependant arising is the belief that everything that is in existence exists because other things are in existence.
• what does the cycle of dependant arising effect buddhist

  as they become aware of how actions have consequences so the past actions they may had will affect their future. And same with the present actions.
• what are the three marks of existence 


  anicca, anatta, dukkha
• what is anicca 


  instability, encourages buddhists to accept death and suffering and that everything changes
• what is anatta 


  that there is no permanent self or soul so people can change in life and energy is reborn not souls