Buddhism

Known as the fourth largest religion, Buddhism is a path of practice, a

spiritual development and a philosophy which encompasses various traditions,
beliefs, and methods which are mainly based on Siddhartha Gautama’s teaching,
that is follow a path — a path which ultimately culminates in Enlightenment or
Buddhahood.
Siddhartha Gautama, founder of Buddhism, was born a prince of the Sakya
tribe of Nepal around 566 BC. He left the bounds of his home at twenty nine years
old to seek for the true meaning of the sufferings he saw around him. Six years
after his exhausting yoga training, he deserted his displeasure and instead sat in a
very peaceful manner to meditate beneath a Bodhi tree. On the full moon of May,
with the rising of the morning star, Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha, the
enlightened one. He wandered for 45 years the path or Dharma he had realized.
Around him developed a community or Sangha of monks and, later, nuns, drawn
from every tribe and caste, devoted to practicing this path. He die at the age of 80
in approximately 486 BC.
Buddhism does not promote worshipping God, some, mainly the Western
critics, does not approve that it is indeed a religion. The basic doctrines of Buddhist
teaching are straightforward and practical: nothing is fixed or permanent; actions
have consequences; change is possible. Thus Buddhism addresses itself to all
people regardless of race, nationality, or gender. The foundations of Buddhist
tradition and practice are the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (the
teachings), and the Sangha (the community). Taking "refuge in the triple gem" has
traditionally been a declaration and commitment to being on the Buddhist path and
in general distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhist. Their practices include
mediation which enables people to make their experiences into realizations that will
make them fully responsible for their being, and to develop awareness, wisdom and
compassion.
Below are the basic concepts of the Buddhists summarized for better
understanding:
• The Four Noble Truths
1. Life is suffering.
 Suffering is perhaps the most common translation for the Sanskrit word
duhkha, which can also be translated as imperfect, stressful, or filled with
anguish. Contributing to the anguish is anitya -- the fact that all things
are impermanent, including living things like ourselves. Furthermore,
there is the concept of anatman -- literally, "no soul". Anatman means
that all things are interconnected and interdependent, so that no thing --
including ourselves -- has a separate existence.
2. Suffering is due to attachment.
Attachment is a common translation for the word trishna, which
literally means thirst and is also translated as desire, clinging, greed, craving,
or lust. Because we and the world are imperfect, impermanent, and not
separate, we are forever "clinging" to things, each other, and ourselves, in a
mistaken effort at permanence. Besides trishna, there is dvesha, which
means avoidance or hatred. Hatred is its own kind of clinging. And finally
there is avidya, ignorance or the refusal to see. Not fully understanding the
impermanence of things is what leads us to cling in the first place.

3. Attachment can be overcome

Perhaps the most misunderstood term in Buddhism is the one which
refers to the overcoming of attachment: nirvana. It literally means "blowing
out," but is often thought to refer to either a Buddhist heaven or complete
nothingness. Actually, it refers to the letting go of clinging, hatred, and
ignorance, and the full acceptance of imperfection, impermanence, and
interconnectedness.

4. There is a path for accomplishing this

And then there is the path, called dharma. Buddha called it the middle
way, which is understood as middle way between such competing
philosophies as materialism and idealism, or hedonism and asceticism. This
path, this middle way, is elaborated as the eightfold path.

• The Eight Fold Path

First Two: Prajña, or wisdom

 1. Right view is the true understanding of the four noble truths.
2. Right aspiration is the true desire to free oneself from attachment,
ignorance, and hatefulness.
Third to Fifth: Shila, or morality.
3. Right speech involves abstaining from lying, gossiping, or hurtful talk.
4. Right action involves abstaining from hurtful behaviors, such as killing,
stealing, and forcing sex.
5. Right livelihood means making your living in such a way as to avoid
dishonesty and hurting others, including animals.
Last Three: Samadhi, or meditation.
6. Right effort is a matter of exerting oneself in regards to the content of
one's mind: Bad qualities should be abandoned and prevented from
arising again; Good qualities should be enacted and nurtured.
7. Right mindfulness is the focusing of one's attention on one's body,
feelings, thoughts, and consciousness in such a way as to overcome
craving, hatred, and ignorance.
8. Right concentration is meditating in such a way as to progressively
realize a true understanding of imperfection, impermanence, and non-
separateness.

• The Three Signs of Being

1. Nothing in life is perfect. ( dukkha) It includes things like being bored and
uncomfortable, and everything which is not satisfactory.
2. Everything in life - even solid things such as mountains - is changing, all
the time.
(anicca)
3. There is no soul. (anatta) Instead, the Buddha taught, what does carry on
to the next life is a person's life force (Karma). The Karma can be good or
bad, depending on how the person lives in this life.

• Enlightenment and Nirvana

Buddhist believe that there is a cycle of birth, life and death and
rebirth. This goes on and on. They believe that unless someone gains
Enlightenment, when they die they will be reborn. If a person can gain
Enlightenment, they can break out of this cycle. Breaking out of the cycle is
called Nirvana (sometimes called Nibbana). It is the end of everything that is
not perfect. It is perfect peace, free of suffering.
• Meditation
Buddhists try to reach Nirvana by following the Buddha's teaching and
by meditating. Meditation means training the mind to empty it all of
thoughts. When this happens what is important comes clear.
• The symbols of Buddhism
1. The wheel
 The wheel of life which symbolizes the cycle of life, death and rebirth.
The eight spokes remind people that the Buddha taught about eight
ways of life

2. The lotus
The lotus flower symbolises purity and divine birth. It grows in mud at
the bottom of a pool, but rises above the surface to become a beautiful
flower. Buddhist say this is how people should rise above everything
which is dukkha. A flower may be very beautiful and have a wonderful
scent, but it soon withers and dies. This shows that nothing in life is
perfect.

3. Images of Buddha
Statues of Buddha include lots of symbols. There are 32 symbols in
Buddhism which show that the Buddha was a special person. Any of
these symbols can be used on statues.
• Holy Book of Buddhists

The sacred book of Buddhism is called the Tripitaka (called Tipitaka in Pali). It
is also called the Pali Canon, after the language in which it was first written. It is
written in an ancient Indian language called Pali which is very close to the language
that the Buddha himself spoke. The Tripitaka is a very large book. The English
translation of it takes up nearly forty volumes. At first these were passed down by
word of mouth and later were complied into two sets of scripture. One set by
Council of Monks of the Theravada school (the Tripitaka) the other by the Mahayana
school ( the Sutras). Both were similar.
The three section of the Tripitaka (three baskets of Wisdom) are:
1. Vinaya Pitaka (the Discipline Basket) - A rule book for monks and nuns
There are 227 rules for monks,and more for nuns.
2. Sutta Pitaka (the Teaching Basket)- The actual experiences of Buddha
3. Abhidhamma Pitaka (the Higher Doctrine Basket)- An explanation on the
teaching of Buddha. Most of these are called Sutras

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/buddhaintro.html
http://fwbo.org/buddhism.html
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/religion/buddhism.htm
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/buddhawise.html
Prepared by:
Paula Mari C. Bernardez BSE4-RE/VE
Theo12