Buddhism
A Brief Overview
Siddhartha Guatama
 c. 563-403 BCE
 Wife was Yasodhara
 Kshatriya caste
 Son was Rahula
 Shakya Tribe
 NE India (today Nepal)
 Mother dies shortly after
he was born
 Ruler or sadhu???
Four Sights
 An Old Person
 A Corpse
 A Sick Person
 A Holy Man
Great Going Forth
 Seeks out teachers
 Becomes ascetic to
the point of death
 Discovers the Middle
Way
 Finds Enlightment
Bodhi or pipal tree
Mara tempts him
 Daughters: desire,
pride, greed,
ignorance, fear
 Lord of Death
 As Himself
• Ego
• Self-Doubt
The Buddha
 Sanskrit word “to
wake up”
 Awakened One
 Taught from 35 to his
death at 80
Four Noble Truths
 Dukkha. All life is
suffering
 Anichcha – change or
impermanence
 Anatta – no self, no soul
 3 marks
 Samudaya. Suffering
Comes from Desire
 tanha
 Nirodha
 nirvana
 Eight-fold Path
 Right Association is
foundation
 Wisdom Elements
 Right Understanding
 Right Intention
 Ethical Conduct
 Right Speech
 Right Action
 Right Livelihood
 Mental
 Right Effort
 Right Mindfulness
 Right Concentration
Panca Sila and Dasa Sila
 Panca Sila or 5 precepts
 Abstain from harming
living beings – ahimsa
 Abstain from taking things
not freely given
 Abstain from sexual
misconduct
 Abstain from false speech
 Abstain from intoxicating
drinks and drugs
 Dasa Sile or 10 Precepts
 Abstain from taking
untimely meals
 Abstain from dancing,
music, singing
 Abstain from the use of
garlands, perfumes,
personal adornment
 Abstain from use of high
seats
 Abstain from accepting
silver or gold
Teachings Grow
 45 yrs work
 480 BCE Ragir
 380 BCE Vesali
 Oral Tradition for
some four centuries
Theravada Buddhism
 School of the Elders
 Vada= way
 Thera = elders
 Hinayana
 Yanas = raft
 Lesser Raft or Vehicle
 More Common in South
(Sri Lanka, Thailand,
Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar)
Theravada
 Sri Lanka home base
 Sangha emphasized
 Arhat or “worthy”
Pali Canon
 Theravada monks in the 1st century BCE
 Tipitaka (Ti=three; pitaka=baskets)
 Three Divisions
Sutta Pitaka
 “Thread”
 Collections of the
Buddha’s sayings in
sermons or dialogues
 Digha Nikaya
 Majjhima Nikaya
 Samyutta Nikaya
 Anguttara Nikaya
 Khuddaka Nikaya
 Dhammapada and Jataka
Tales
Facts and Figures
 185 million Mahayana
Buddhists (56%)
 124 million Theravada
Buddhists (38%)
 20 million Vajrayana or
Tibetan Buddhists (6%)
 Total of some 329 million;
5.6% of the world’s
religious population
 98.9% live in Asia
 Numbers would be
greater if there was more
freedom of religion in
China
Two Other Divisions
 Vinaya Pitaka
Book of Discipline for
bhikkhus (monks) and
bhikkhunis (nuns)
Contains 227 rules for
how they should live in
sangha
Also stories of the
origins of these rules
 Abhidhamma Pitaka
“the works that go
beyond the elementary
teachings”
More philosophical
Mahayana Buddhism
 Spread NW from India to Nepal, China, Tibet, Japan,
Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan
 Big Raft; accommodates more people, traditions, needs
 Many schools and Traditions within it
Some Common Mahayana Themes
 Bodhisattva or
“Enlightenment Being”
 Karuna or compassion a
goal
 People strive to achieve
enlightenment
 Heavenly bodhisattvas
help
 Avalokitesvara or Kuanyin popular
Three Bodies of Buddha
 Dharmakaya
 Law or form body; body of
reality
 Cosmic Buddha nature
 Universal consciousness
that absolute reality
 Nirmakaya
 Transformation body
 Buddha “principle”
incarnates
 Human form of
Siddhartha here
 Sambogakaya
 Perfect-Bliss Body
Buddhas
 Communicate dharma to
Bodhisattvas
Shunyata
 Emptiness or Zero-ness
 Nagarjuna – 2nd or 3rd
century Indian
philosopher
 Samsara, nirvana – all
things are empty of
inherent existence
 All teachings of the
Buddha are also empty
Scripture
 Tipitaka
 Vimalakirti Sutra
Sanskrit Version
 Open-Ended and OnGoing Insights.
Including:
 Prajnaparamita Sutra
Sutras on the
Perfection of Wisdom
 Saddharma Sutra
Lotus Sutra
Some Famous Mahayana Schools
 Zen
North China, then Japan
 Tendai
China
 Pure Land or Jodo
Japan
 Nichiren
Japan
Zen
 Ch’an in Chinese
from Indian dhyana or
meditation
 Bodhidharma
Indian monk to China c.
470 CE
Nine years of silent
meditation facing a wall
More intuitive approach
Key Ideas
 Regular seated
meditation or Zazen
 Kensho or sudden
burst of
enlightenment
 Satori or
enlightenment is the
goal
 Koans or gong-an
(kung-an)
Public discussion
Riddles or puzzles
Sanzen
Flag, Wind
 Two monks were
watching a flag
flapping in the wind.
One said to the other,
“the flag is moving.”
The other replied, the
wind is moving.”
Huineng overheard
this. He said, “not the
flag, not the wind,
mind is moving.”
Gutei’s Finger
Whenever anyone asked him about Zen, the great
master Gutei would quietly raise one finger into the
air. A boy in the village began to imitate this
behavior. Whenever he heard people talking about
Gutei's teachings, he would interrupt the discussion
and raise his finger. Gutei heard about the boy's
mischief. When he saw him in the street, he seized
him and cut off his finger. The boy cried and began
to run off, but Gutei called out to him. When the boy
turned to look, Gutei raised his finger into the air. At
that moment the boy became enlightened.
Vajrayana Buddhism
 Diamond Vehicle
 Branch of Mahayana, but
also a kind of “third”
vehicle
 “Hidden” teachings
 Tibet key. Also Nepal,
Bhutan, Mongolia, and
other places
 Mixes Buddhism with
“Bon” (pronounce it
“pern’) – a native religion
A Little History and Teaching
 7th century CE Songstan
(Song-tsen-gam-po), king of
Tibet, sent out learners
 Buddhism mixed with
indigenous religion and tantric
practice to form this stream
 Lamas are revered teachers
 Thang-kas and mandalas used
to assist in focus for meditation
 Use energy of body to focus
the mind
Dalai Lama
 “Ocean of Wisdom”
 Yeshin Norbu, “WishFulfilling Gem”
 Kundun, “The Presence”
 Tenzin Gaytso, 14th Dalai
Lama; born 1937
 Manifestation of
Bodhisattva of
Compassion
 Recognized at age 2
Some Key Details
 Became leader of Tibet at 16 in 1950
 Earned doctorate in Buddhist Studies
at 24
 Forced into exile by Chinese military
occupation in 1959
 Won Noble Peace Prize in 1989
 "Compassion is what makes our lives
meaningful. It is the source of all
lasting happiness and joy. And it's the
foundation of a good heart, the heart
of one who acts out of a desire to help
others. Through kindness, through
affection, through honesty, through
truth and justice toward all others we
ensure our own benefit. This is not a
matter for complicated theorizing. It is
a matter of common sense. There is
no denying that consideration of others
is worthwhile. There is no denying that
if society suffers we ourselves suffer.
Nor is there any denying that the more
our hearts and minds are afflicted with
ill-will, the more miserable we become.
Thus we can reject everything else:
religion, ideology, all received wisdom.
But we cannot escape the necessity of
love and compassion."
Scripture
 Kanjur
Core
From the Tipitaka
 Tenjur
Commentaries
Treatises
More than 4,000