Buddhism

Miss IslerTrimester 1

World Religions

Origins

• India• 500’s BCE• Challenging Brahmin priests- Hindu

religion• Siddhartha Gautama- BuddhaSiddhartha Gautama- Buddha• Search for Wisdom

The Story

• Gautahma born 563BCE• Lived in Palaces near Himalayan

Mountains, trained to be Royalty• Never saw pain because in wealthy

family• Finally saw suffering, and

astonished• Knew life a cycle of pain and only

way to escape is through wisdom

Story continued…

• Around age 29, Gautama left his wife and child and joined wandering, homeless band to seek wisdom

• 6 years, ate 1 grain of rice a day• Sought wisdom through harsh

discipline and suffering• Gained only pain, not wisdom

Wisdom- 4 noble truths4 noble truths

• Mediated regularly• Buddha= “the enlightened one”• 4 noble truths:4 noble truths:

– Everything in life is suffering and sorrow– Cause of all pain is people’s self-centred

cravings and desires- no point in seeking pleasure because only lasts for short time

– Way to end pain is to end all desires- reaching Nirvana Nirvana (absolute happiness)

– People can overcome their desires and find enlightenment by following the Eightfold Path

Eightfold PathEightfold Path

• A staircase, mastering one step at a time– Right knowledge– Right purpose– Right speech– Right action– Right living– Right effort– Right mindfulness– Right meditation

• All leading to NirvanaNirvana

Love

• Should treat all living things (insects, humans, flowers, etc.) with Love and Kindness- because they believe in reincarnationreincarnation

• Taught in the vernacular vernacular • Everyone equal (men, women, lowborn,

highbown)

Rise of Buddhism

• First accepted by Mauryan Ruler, Ashoka, around 200 BCE– Warrior king– After hearing his words cause his troops to

massacre 100,000 captives, he turned to Buddhist ruling

– Produced EdictsEdicts (public announcements) of Buddhist teachings around his empire

– Spread his word into current day Sri Lanka and Syria- cause of why Buddhism one of the largest religions today

Today

• Followed in China, India, Ceylon (formerly Sri Lanka), Tibet, and other far eastern countries due to the Silk RoadSilk Road

• Map• In Tibet, the religious

and political leader is the Dalai Lama-Dalai Lama- a monk who is considered a man who refused nirvana to look after humans

Texts and Messiah’s

• Text– Buddhism was spread through oral historyoral history– Own regions have their own scriptures, but no , but no

universal scriptureuniversal scripture– Theravada (in India, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar,

Thailand, etc.) use the TipitakaTipitaka (Three Baskets)- 1 book for nuns and monks, 2 book for Buddhist teachings, 3 for interpretation of teachings.

• Messiah– No messiah– No praying towards God– meditation– See Buddha as the leader, but do not pray to

him

Festivals/Celebrations

• Only one major festival- Buddha’s birthday

• Called WesakWesak- full moon during May

Why Buddhism?

• People look to eastern religions because they are looking for direct spiritual experiences.

• Christianity, Judaism, and Islam rely too heavily on rules and regulations

• Buddhism and Hinduism are more about meditation, contemplation, the spirit

Buddha

• “I am is a vain thought. I am not is a vain thought. I shall be is a vain thought. I shall not be is a vain thought. Vain thoughts are a sickness. But after overcoming all vain thoughts one is called a silent thinker.”