Buddhism

Buddhism comes from budhi, to awaken. About 2,500 years ago, Siddhartha Gotama, known as the Buddha, was awakened (enlightened) at the age of 35. Buddha was born into a royal family in modern day Nepal, and at 29, he realized that material goods, especially wealth, did not guarantee happiness. His goal became to find the key to human happiness, so he studied and meditated for 6 years. After this time, he found ‘the middle path’ and was enlightened. He then spent the rest of his life teaching the principles he discovered — called the Dharma, or Truth, Buddhism is more of a philosophical way of life than a religion, which teachings ultimately guide one:

(1) to lead a moral life,
(2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and
(3) to develop wisdom and understanding.

Buddhism is tolerant of all other beliefs or religions. It agrees with their moral teachings while presenting a long term purpose within our existence, through wisdom and understanding. It is not concerned with labels like ‘Christian’ or ‘Buddhist’, which is why there have never been wars fought in its name. Buddhists do not preach or try to convert, but they strive to be available to those seeking explanations.

Statue of the Buddha

Beliefs

Worldview

  • Buddhism looks at the human condition from an empirical point of view; everything is based on Buddha’s observations and can be realized and understood by followers
  • Buddhism does not like any titles or labels, and thus its followers do not like to be called “Buddhists”
  • The focus is on mental and moral training
  • The world is full of suffering, frustration, and pain
  • There are 3 marks of existence:
    • Pain (dukkha) – suffering
    • Impermanence (anicca) – all conditioned things are in a constant state of flux
    • Egolessness (anatta) – individuals are not integrals, autonomous entities

Cosmology – Role of the Universe

  • No creator god to explain the origin of the universe.
    • Buddhism teaches that everything depends on everything else (the present is affected by the past, and it affects the future)
  • Space and time are cyclical – world-systems come into being, survive for a time, are destroyed and then are remade
    • This happens naturally without the intervention of gods.
  • The physical world is the product of dependent origination, which is a 12-stage circular chain, which each stage leading to the next:
    • Ignorance, Willed action, Conditioned consciousness, Form and existence, The six sense-organs, Sense-impressions, Sensation, Craving (tanhā), Attachment, Becoming, Birth, Old age and death
  • There are 6 Buddhist realms for a soul to be reborn, which aren’t necessarily unlinked, distinct locations, for they can interact with one another (note: in some schools there are only 5 because they combine devas + asuras)
    • Heaven (Devas) – believed to be subdivided into 26 levels of happiness and belonging to long-lived, joyful beings
    • Humanity (Manusya-gati) – considered the most fortunate state, even though humans may suffer, because they are able to achieve enlightenment
    • Titans (asuras) – warlike gods/beings at the mercy of angry impulses
    • Hungry Ghosts (preta) – unhappy beings, bound to outskirts of human existence, unable to move on because of their attachments; they are always craving, but they can never satisfy it
    • Animal (Tiryagyoni-gati) – animals do not have freedom or self-awareness, and they are exploited by humans; this is an undesirable realm
    • Hell (Naraka-gati) – souls are tortured here until their bad karma is worked off
Bhavachakra – The Wheel of Life
  • The Wheel of Life
    • The wheel is divided into the 5-6 sections, one for each of the realms, depending on the school of thought. Beings are born into them according to their karma. They can be viewed as personality types (example: hungry ghosts are addicts) or even situations in life.
    • bodhisattva exist in each realm, which aim to show beings how to escape the wheel and achieve liberation; however, enlightenment can only be achieved in the human realm
    • Samsara is the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth and the opposite of nirvana, which is not a place, but a state of existence, free from this cycle.
    • The outer circle represents the 12 stages of dependent origination.
    • Yama, the Lord of Death, holds the wheel. He symbolizes the impermanence of everything, holding beings trapped in eternal suffering by their ignorance of the nature of the universe. He is not evil, and he is viewed as the protector of Buddhism.
  • Buddhism depends more on understanding than faith, and it teaches that each of the 4 noble truths can be tested and proven. It encourages its followers to reach understanding through such scientific study.
  • Karma is the law that every cause has an effect:
    • explains inequality in the world
    • underlines the importance responsibility for past and present actions
    • Karmic effect of actions is a combination of: (1) the intention behind the action, (2) effects of the action on oneself, and (3) the effects on others.

Theology – Study of God

Followers of Buddhism do not acknowledge a supreme god or deity. There is thus no “study of god,” particularly because when Buddha was born, ancient Judaism was just beginning to understand monotheism. Their view of gods is a bit different than the traditional understanding, and they differ according to the school of thought. Buddhists do not worship Buddha or view him as any form of deity.

Anthropology – Role of Human Beings

  • There are Four Noble Truths about humanity:
    • Suffering exists (Dukkha) – (i.e. pain, getting old, disease, death) can be psychological or physical
    • Origin of Suffering (Samudāya) – Suffering is caused by craving and aversion, and getting what we want does not guarantee happiness; wanting deprives one of happiness. Craving to continue to exist, creates a powerful energy, which causes the individual to be born
    • The Cessation of Suffering (Nirodha) – giving up craving and learning to live a day at a time (not dwell on past or imagine future) can allow one to become happy and free, reaching a state of nirvana.
    • The Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering (Magga) – The Noble 8-Fold path leads to the end of suffering
  • Human beings are the only beings that can manifest the Law through their own subjectivity and achieve enlightenment
  • The human body is “the vessel of the Law”
  • Human existence is a combination of physical forms (rupa), feelings or sensations (vedana), ideations (sanna), mental formations or dispositions (sankhara), and consciousness (vinnana)

Soteriology – Salvation

Buddhism is not concerned with salvation or the afterlife; rather, it focuses on how to best live life.

“Salvation” in one sense can be through liberation from worldly desires by means of the individual’s own power (jirikiM), and in another sense, it can be by means of the external power of a transcendent Buddha (tariki). As a human-centered religion, Buddhism teaches practitioners to save themselves, and as they practice, their own individual power and external power fuse in order to achieve enlightenment.

Wisdom and compassion are necessary to achieve enlightenment, which can both be developed by following the middle path. Wisdom is acquired by truly understanding the reality one lives in. Compassion allows one to understand others, and subsequently understanding others will allow one to truly understand himself.

The Noble 8-Fold Path

This middle path requires being moral (through words and actions), focussing the mind on being fully aware, and on developing wisdom by understanding the Four Noble Truths and by developing compassion for others.

Specifically, all Buddhists live by five moral precepts, which prohibit:

  • Killing living things
  • Taking what is not given
  • Sexual misconduct
  • Lying
  • Using drugs or alcohol

Eschatology – the End of Times

Buddha believed that his teachings would disappear around 4600 CE, which will begin a new era when the Maitreya will appear. In his sermon of the Seven Suns, Buddha describes the apocalypse, or end of the world, being characterized by the appearance of seven suns in the sky, each causing progressive ruin until the Earth is destroyed. Everything that does not find the path of enlightenment will cease to exist.

Rituals/Customs

  • Venerating the Buddha – meditating on the qualities of Buddha, and honoring the Buddha or Buddha-figure.
  • Pilgrimage
  • Ordination – admission to the monastic sangha involves two rites of passage: renunciation of the secular life and acceptance of monasticism as a novice
  • Meditation – separating oneself from thoughts and feelings in order to become fully aware
  • Sacred mandala – symbolic picture of the universe
  • Buddhist worship

Sacred Text and Writings

  • Tipitaka – “three baskets” – earliest collection of Buddhist writings
  • Sutras – There are more than 2,000 , and are sacred teachings embraced mainly by Mahayana Buddhists
  • The Book of the Dead – Tibetan text describing the stages of death in detail

“People with opinions just go around bothering each other”

“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world”

“Life is so very hard. How can we be anything but kind?”

“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth”

Buddha

Great Resources to Learn More:

There are many forms of Buddhism around the world. The three main types are:

Each reveres particular texts and has slightly different interpretations of Buddha’s teachings. There are also sub-sects of Buddhism, including Zen Buddhism and Nirvana Buddhism.

Some forms of Buddhism incorporate ideas of other religions and philosophies, such as Taoism

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