REL 333

1. REL 333 World Religious Traditions Week 3 - Buddhism “The masses have their heads on backwards. If you want to get things right, first look at how they think and behave, and consider going the opposite way.”

2. Buddhism With thanks to Clayton Mills, and Charles Meyer of the University of Phoenix for the loan of their slides to enhance this particular presentation.

3. Siddhartha Gautama c.563 – 483 B.C.E.

4. Origins of Buddhism • Siddhartha Gautama • Born around 563 BCE in Lumbini (near Nepal) • Born a prince • His father wanted him to also be a king • Saw the four sights • Old man • Sick person • Corpse • Sannyasin

5. Buddha • Became an extreme ascetic • This didn’t provide enlightenment • Quit, and went to sit in grove of trees • Achieved enlightenment • Became a Buddha – ‘enlightened one.’ • One of many buddhas throughout the ages • Began wandering around northern India teaching others of the way to enlightenment

8. Buddha’s teaching • Four Noble Truths • Suffering (dukkha) is inevitable • Suffering arises only from our desires • To eliminate desire is to eliminate suffering • This can be achieved by following the Noble Eight-fold Path

9. Buddha’s Teachings • Noble Eight-Fold Path • Right views • Right thoughts • Right speech • Right action (karma) • Right livelihood • Right effort • Right mindfulness • Right meditation

10. Another way of putting it: The Eightfold Path • Complete View • Complete Understanding • Complete (or truthful) Speech • Complete Action • Complete Vocation • Complete Application • Complete Recollectedness • Complete Contemplation

11. The Eightfold Path Right View • Complete View • Complete Understanding Concerned with proper understanding of the human condition; seeing the world as it is.

12. The Eightfold Path Right Relationship 3. Complete (or truthful) Speech 4. Complete Action 5. Complete Vocation

13. The Eightfold Path Right Meditation 6. Complete Application 7. Complete Recollectedness 8. Complete Contemplation Signifies the perfection of Right View; a purity of vision, enlightenment itself.

14. 3. Complete (or Truthful) Speech Refraining from lying; slander; harsh, rude, impolite or malicious words; idle chatter and gossip. If you cannot say something nice, remain silent.

15. 4. Complete Action Refraining from taking life; from taking what is not freely given; from sexual misconduct.

16. 5. Complete Vocation Refraining from making one’s living in a manner that brings harm to others: manufacturing and dealing in arms and weapons, intoxicating drinks, the killing of animals, perpetrating fraud.

17. Not Inherently Ethical Precepts By refraining from the behaviors identified in each category, one refrains from purposeful activity and by so doing is better able to realize the cessation of craving. Purposeful activity – karma – whether directed toward good or bad ends, is directed at the grasping of life. The specific activities noted are perhaps more by way of grasping than those directed toward good, but they are grasping nonetheless.

18. The fundamental ethical precepts of Buddhism, if one is to single out any at all, are wisdom and compassion.

19. Buddha Life has no purpose. Each moment and each task we perform is cherished and undertaken for its own sake with no thought of something to gain. Living in the moment is spontaneous. It most closely resembles dance or the playing of an instrument when the performer is so completely immersed in the sound and the movement that they lose sight of themselves and thus become one with the music.

20. I have no other “self” than the totality of the things of which I am aware: thoughts that appear unbidden, associated emotions, a feeling of the floor pressing up against the bottoms of my feet or the chair seat against my backside, the flickering impressions of other people, furnishings and fixtures enclosed within these four walls, the sounds of nearby voices and of passing cars just outside the windows, the smells of stale air punctuated by hints of perspiration sometimes masked by fragrant perfumes, the sharp sweetness of carbonated drinks and salty snacks. And just as these impressions are continually in flux, so too this illusion of self is fleeting, constantly shifting focus from moment to moment.

21. A Major Difference (or development) from Hinduism Annata - the revolutionary and unique doctrine that there is no separate, permanent, or immortal self; rather, a human being is an energy process composed of momentary energy flashes, interconnected with all other beings and with the universe as energy processes. (from Living Religions)

22. Nirvana • The word itself refers to the extinguishing of a flame from lack of fuel. The only way to end the cycle in which desire feeds the wheel of suffering is to end all cravings and lead a passion-free existence that has no karmic consequences. Thence one enters a condition of what the Buddha called “quietude of heart.” “Where there is nothing,” he said, “where naught is grasped, there is the Isle of No-beyond. Nirvana do I call it—the utter extinction of aging and dying,” “the unborn, . . . undying, . . . unsorrowing, . . . stainless, the uttermost security from bonds.” • (from Living Religions)

23. Nirvana • ‘What happens when an enlightened being dies? One enters a deathless, peaceful, unchanging state that cannot be described. Individuality disappears and one enters the realm of ultimate truth, about which the Buddha was silent.’ • From Living Religions

24. Ritual The Buddha taught a religion devoid of ritual. He ridiculed Brahmin rites as superstitious petitions to ineffectual gods. Worse than irrelevant, “belief in the efficacy of rites and ceremonies” is one of the ties that bind the human spirit, impeding the demanding job of ego-reduction. Buddhism: Huston Smith, Philip Novak, p. 24f.

25. Work The Buddha taught a religion of intense self-effort. “Let persons of intelligence come to me, honest, candid, straightforward; I will instruct them, and if they practice as they are taught, they will come to know for themselves and to realize that supreme religion and goal” Buddhism: Huston Smith, Philip Novak, p. 27f.

26. Mystery The Buddha taught a religion devoid of the supernatural. He condemned all forms of divination, soothsaying, and forecasting as low arts…. All appeal to the supernatural and reliance on it amounted, he felt, to looking for shortcuts, easy answers, and simple solutions that could only divert attention from the hard, practical task of self-advance. Buddhism: Huston Smith, Philip Novak, p. 28

27. Development • Buddhism mostly moved out of India (almost gone by 1500 CE) • To the south, it developed as Theraveda • Develops as a distinct branch around 200 BCE • Closely follows the traditions of early Buddhism • More focused on the Pali canon • Tripitaka – ‘Three Baskets’ • Discourses, Rules, and other teachings • Emphasis on individual enlightenment and a monastic lifestyle

29. Development • To the North, it develops intoMahayana Buddhism • Becomes distinct around 100 AD (CE) • Adopts many local cultural traditions • Elevates the Sanskrit sutras • Much more theistic • Worship of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas • Prayed to, given offerings, celebrated in festivals

30. Mahayana • Theistic • Buddha now something of a god, still helping his followers • Bodhisattvas – those who have been enlightened • Some remain on earth to help others • Some have become divine beings themselves • Use Sanskrit sutras that were written down later than the Pali canon. • Claims these to be the ‘more developed’ teachings of the Buddha • Mostly from Tibet and China • Some branches believe in types of heaven and hell

31. Mahayana *Mahayana could accommodate more people and more believers from all walks of life, which is way it is known as the “Greater Vehicle.” *they claimed to be recovering the original teachings of Buddha *the overall goal was to extend religious authority to a greater number of people rather than concentrating it in the hands of a few *the Mahayana mindset differs from traditionalism, to promote it’s beliefs. *The difference between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism can be seen as one of interpretation. Mahayana scholars interpret the sacred texts in a more liberal manner, where as the Theravada monks use the texts literally. The Mahayana school generalizes that it is possible for all people to reach an enlightened state and work towards that goal.

32. Theravada • Non-theistic • Speculation about gods is useless • Reality is unconditioned • No devotion to personal deities

33. Theravada Buddhism GeneralBeliefs Theravada is Sanskrit for “The Way of the Elders”, and is the oldest existing Buddhist school of thought. Theravada Buddhists live mainly in Southeast Asia, in areas like Sri Lanka, China, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The underlying belief is that Nibbana, or freedom from the cycles of death and rebirth, can be beaten by one who is enlightened, or an arahant. This “enlightenment” that is attained is believed to be the exact awakening the Buddha experienced. But, Theravadas believe that the Buddha is superior to these adherents because of his ability to not only achieve Nirvana, but to help others on the path to their own salvation. 300 BCE: Buddhism arrives in Southeast Asia. Rituals Traditions • Uphold the Pali Canon as “most authoritative”. • Brought to Sri Lanka during Asoka’s Reign, written down in 30 BCE. • Believers consider Buddha to be “godlike”, superior to the common man. • Follow Patimokha, or the Monk’s codes • Consider only Guatama and other Buddhas before him as “Authentic”. • Focus on self-liberation, self-reliance, as opposed to helping others. • Fewer rituals than Mahayana school. • Do not recognize the existence of Bardo (Limbo?) • Only eat one meal a day. • Seems a lot more traditional and stricter than newer schools

35. Life utterly defeats our efforts to control it, but there is a remarkable freedom in acting unimpeded by self-frustration when we finally acknowledge our inability and stop trying. This is the freedom of liberation, also known as nirvana.

36. ZEN To the restless temperament of the West, sitting meditation may seem to be an unpleasant discipline, because we do not seem to be able to sit “just to sit” without qualms of conscience, without feeling that we ought to be doing something more important to justify our existence. To propitiate this restless conscience, sitting meditation must therefore be regarded as an exercise, a discipline with an ulterior motive. Yet at that very point, it ceases to be meditation (dhyana) in the Buddhist sense, for where there is purpose, where there is seeking and grasping for results, there is no dhyana. The Way of Zen: Allan Watts, p. 54.

37. Rituals and Practices • Meditation • Zen • Tantric • Koans • ‘What is the sound of one hand clapping?’ • Mandalas • Schematic representation of the multi-layered worlds of the cosmic Buddha • Painted, etched in stone, colored sand • Chanting

38. Practices • Asceticism & Monks • Shaved heads, saffron robes, and alms-bowls • Precepts of the Sangha • Not taking a life (vegetarianism) • Not taking a thing not given • Celibacy (sexual misconduct) • Not speaking falsely • No intoxicating beverages • No eating after noon

39. Anguish emerges from craving for life to be other than it is. In the face of a changing world, such craving seeks consolation in something permanent and reliable, in a self that is in control of things, in a God that is in charge of destiny. The irony of this strategy is that it turns out to be the cause of what it seeks to dispel. BuddhismWithout Beliefs , Stephen Batchelor

40. The end of craving lies in giving up these and similar viewpoints that place us at odds with the world as it is: Why me? If only … Wishing Greener pastures Hope

41. Compiled and arranged by Gene R. Smillie liberally making use of other facilitators’ materials from University of Phoenix