Introduction to Buddhism

Vocabulary

(cont)

resources for Vocabulary

• Both Sacred Quest and Siddhartha (Bernofsky edition) have glossaries
• Each of the following have reliable glossaries
  • http://www.dharma.org/resources/glossary
  • http://www.accesstoinsight.org/glossary.html

Timeline

https://www.preceden.com/timelines/274460-buddhism---hinduism

Introduction

• beginning with a human being – Siddhartha Gautama
• a solution to the problem of human
• Buddhists focus on his experience, and they deny the existence of a single, almighty God.
• The most basic Buddhist expression of faith is called the triple refuge:
  • I take refuge in the Buddha;
  • I take refuge in the Dharma [the Buddhas teaching];
  • I take refuge in the Samgha [the community of the Buddhas followers].

Buddha

• The doctrine of reincarnation or rebirth is known as samsara (literally, wandering)
• The release from samsara is found in moksha
• Four Noble Truths are:
  1. the truth of suffering (Gurkha): all is suffering
  2. the truth of the arising of suffering: it is from desire
  3. the truth of the cessation of suffering (also known as nirvana or nibbana): i.e. cease from desire
  4. the truth of the path that leads to the cessation of suffering: via 8-fold path

The path to nirvana is divided into eight categories:

• right understanding,
• right thought,
• right speech,
• right action,
• right livelihood,
• right effort,
• right mindfulness,
• right concentration.

Mahayana arose as reform ca. beginning of common era

• emptiness: Hinduism there is an eternal self. Buddhism there is "no-self"
• non-duality (physical / spiritual)

Politics and Buddhism

• Complex histories of relationship between politics and Buddhism throughout Asia
• Played out over a millenia throughout Asia
  • Burma / Myanmar
  • Tibet
  • China
  • Japan

Chinese adoption of Buddhism blended with an adaptation of Chinese Taoism

The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;
The Named is the mother of all things.
The Tao is empty like a bowl.
It may be used but its capacity is never exhausted.

Quick overview of Buddha

https://youtu.be/YpVlbPeX37A

Exercise

5 Themes of Siddhartha

Write on a piece of paper an example from text of:

1. Self-realization
2. Personal experience vs. Formal training
3. Persistence
4. Folly of materialism or less is more
5. paradox of unreal reality (reality is an illusion)

With a partner discuss:

1. most important illustration of the theme from the text
2. How important was that theme