Buddhism
Awakened One (in Sanskrit)
Basic Biography
 Born in Lumbini 500 BCE, current day Nepal
 Prince with a sheltered life (no physical
discomforts)
 His father shelters him but Siddhartha sees
 4 realities: aging, sick, dead, & a holy man
 Concludes “dukkha” (suffering/dissatisfaction)
 Flees his material privilege and seeks out teachers
to ask how to end suffering.
 No one provides a meaningful answer despite
speaking to the greatest teachers around.
 First answer is to become an extreme ascetic
because “sin comes from doing things that
 make us feel good.”
 Stops asceticism
 Meditates to discover his own answer,and finds
the middle path.
 Mara, the Evil one, tempts him. Her arrows turn
into flowers, though. [Power of insight]
 He obtains enlightenment: “The earth is my
witness” under the Bodhi tree, in Bodgaya, Bihar,
India.
 Teaches from age 30 to 81
 The Buddhas
 The “Buddha” is the buddha of the present,
Siddhartha Gautama Shakyamuni (caste)
 Maitreya is the Buddha of the future.
 Boddhisattva is a “saint” – one who has attained
enlightenment but stays in the world to help others
(found in northern buddhism).
 The southern buddhist equivalent is the arhat: one
who has attained enlightenment.
 Nirvana – “heaven” translates as emptiness
 Samsara – cycle of life and death
What keeps people in samsara are greed, hatred and
ignorance
3 jewels
 Dharma – “to hold,” truth or way
The body of teachings
 Buddha – reverence for his achievement
 Sangha – community of practitioners (we cannot
do it on our own; and yet we must meditate as if
it depends entirely on our own).
 Speech should be useful, gentle, edifying and
truthful.
 Action should be peaceful and respectful.
 Livelihood should be non-harming.
4 Noble truths
1. Life involves Dhukkha
2. Dissatisfaction is caused by our desires,
cravings, demands (I must have _______).
3. We can end our dissatisfaction if we let
go of our cravings/attachments/demands.
[Note: Preferences are okay. Demands are
what cause problems.]
4. The way to achieve enlightenment is to
follow the 8-fold path
8 fold path: the “How”
I Wisdom:
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
II Ethical Conduct:
1. Right Speech
2. Right Action
3. Right Livelihood
III Mental Discipline
 1. Right Effort
 2. Right Concentration
 3. Right Mindfulness
Two schools:
Theravada – southern Buddhism (small
wheel) uses only the earliest writings
India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia
Arhat – goes to nirvana straight away
Greater emphasis on the monastic tradition.
The community gives dona to the monks/nuns.
More focus on the individual obtaining
enlightenment, and less on helping others obtain it.
“Small wheel” because little focus on animals,
insects, and the cosmos, but a lot on human
activity.
Mahayana
 AKA Northern Buddhism (big wheel)
 Focus is more universal – including animals,
insects, and the interconnectedness of the entire
cosmos.
 Is more open to immediate enlightenment
(satori) and the laity being vessels of wisdom.
 Uses both early and later (philosophical) writings
China, Korea, Japan
Bodhisattva – attains enlightenment but stays behind to
help others, to help all sentient beings
Zen: to meditate (chan)
Soto and Rinzai are the two Zen schools.
Zazen is the name (verb) of the actual
practice of meditation.
A Zafu is the cushion on which one sits.
To meditate is to “sit” (in english).
Bodhidarma brought Buddhism from India to
China in the 7th century CE. It mixes
theologically with Taoism.
Zen is practiced in Vietnam, Korea, China
and Japan.
Buddhist Philosophy
Meditation
Present Moment
Insight
Non-dualism
Non-attachment
Nonviolence
Meditation
 The purpose is to build mindfulness.
 If you focus on your breath and its subtleties,
then you take that deepened concentration into
every facet of your life: baseball, family, romantic
love, friends, driving, school, etc…
 Conscious breathing links the mind to the body.
 If you slow down, you can begin to see the
invisible, to notice what is not obvious to the
naked eye (wisdom).
Present Moment
 Stay in the here and now. The kingdom of God is
available in the here and now.
 It is only in the present moment that one can
attain happiness. The future does not exist.
 Planning (future oriented thought) and reflection
(thought regarding the past) are good but not to
be done in excess, instead though in moderation:
15% 70% 15%.
 “Looking deeply is the most effective way to
transform anger, prejudice and discrimination.”
Insight
 If you are a poet, you will clearly see that there is a cloud
floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be
 no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without
trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the
paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper
cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the
paper inter-are. If we look into this sheet of paper even more
deeply, we can see the sunshine in it. If the sunshine is not
there, the forest cannot grow… You cannot point out one
thing that is not here – time, space, the Earth, the rain, the
minerals in the soil, the sunshine, the cloud, the river, the
heat. Everything coexists with this piece of paper… This
sheet of paper is because everything else is.
 Peace Is Every Step, Thich Nhat Hanh
Non-Dualism
Despite appearances, all things are
interconnected; all things are ONE.
Evil occurs only when we think things are
two: good versus evil.
This assessment is an illusion.
Read the poem and discover the
application of non-dualism, how it ushers
in nonviolence.
Non–attachment
 In many cases, it is our attachment to things that
are the very sources of our suffering.
 All things are impermanent, therefore we should
relinquish our grip on all things. This creates
freedom.
 Our problems come not from “reality” or the
world, but from our incapacity to adjust to reality.
 You are more than your anger. Do not be
attached or controlled by it.
 Attachment is not love; it is controlling and it kills
love.
Nonviolence
Honors the sacredness of each person
Addresses underlying symptoms without
completely blaming single actors.
It does NOT mean non-activity.
It simply means to address conflict without
causing further harm, exclusively
attempting to solve the problem using love
and compassion.
Understanding breeds compassion.
If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha.
 Don’t worship anyone, not even Mr. Haardt.
 Rely on yourself. “Work out your own salvation.”
 This dovetails with the Gospel’s notion of the
kingdom of God is within you.
 The entire project of Buddhism rests on turning
one’s arrow inwardly.
 Our problems/solutions exist within ourselves.
 Any external object (person/$) isn’t the problem, nor
the solution.
 The Buddha is within, never another person.
 You, no one else, are the Buddha.
Only you can save yourself
“Work out your own salvation with diligence”
(the Buddha).
There is no reliance on something outside of
yourself, ultimately. The sangha and
teachings can help, but they are not enough.
You HAVE to meditate, learning the truth
that is accessible only to committed seekers.
 The Buddha preached intense self-reliance:
“A true disciple must know for herself.”