1.1 Four Noble Truths - scholars Flashcards
how does Keown describe ‘chanda’
positive desire to reach nirvana which results in the breaking of cyclic negative habits
Keown’s three levels of cyclic change
- personal (death, rebirth)
- psychological (craving, gratification)
- cosmic (creation & destruction of galaxies)
Keown’s description of ‘nirvana in this life’
the reaching of enlightenment - a transformed state of peace, awareness, compassion, and spiritual joy
Keown’s description of ‘final nirvana’
the escaping of samsara when an enlightened being dies; neither annihilation nor immortality
Keown: how is nirvana achieved
‘partially through leading a moral life and partially through the wisdom gained by studying the Four Noble Truths’
Bodhi - description of the Buddha’s classification of people: the puthujjanas
the worldlings
‘eyes are still covered with the dust of defilements and delusion’
‘not invincible in out striving on the path’
Bodhi - description of the Buddha’s classification of people: the ariyans
the noble ones
‘spiritual elite who obtain this status … from their inward nobility of character’
‘incapable of regression to the ranks of the worldling’
will reach arahantship in max 7 lives
Bodhi - what is the ‘radical leap’ between puthujjana and ariyan status
the penetration of the Four Noble Truths
Bodhi - why the Four Noble Truths are so significant
due to their comprehensiveness they ‘contain within themselves all wholesome and beneficial teachings’
grant us ‘nobility of spirit’ through the tasks they impose on us
Bodhi - the task the first truth, Dukkha, imposes on us
‘full understanding’
‘endeavour to comprehend existence from within, as honestly and thoroughly as possible’
Bodhi - the task the second truth, Samudaya, imposes on us
‘abandonment’
‘to withstand the coarser manifestation of defilements’
Bodhi - the task the third truth, Nirodha, imposes on us
‘realisation’
to make the aspiration of nirvana ‘the pole around which we order out everyday choices’
Bodhi - the task the fourth truth, Magga, imposes on us
‘development’
to follow the Buddha’s ‘meticulous instructions that we need to tread the path culminating in the plane of the noble ones’
Rinpoche - the theme of the first two truths
dealing with ‘the way things are’
Rinpoche - the theme of the final two truths
pointing the way to freedom from suffering
Rinpoche - physical vs mental suffering
‘although physical suffering is a natural aspect of our lives, we can learn to transcend mental suffering’
Rinpoche - qualities of those who have realised cessation
‘purity of heart’
‘ocean-like compassion’
‘penetrating wisdom’
Rinpoche - ‘the way leading to cessation contains a thorough and…
…profound training of body, speech, and mind’
Rinpoche - description of sila
restraint and care
Rinpoche - description of samadhi
constant effort to develop the wholesome and abandon the unwholesome
Rinpoche - description of panna
penetrating the true nature of phenomena
deleteRinpoche: the Four Noble Truths can be thought of as that which is to be…
1) comprehended
2) abandoned
3) realised
4) developed
Cush - what is the Noble Eightfold Path
the practical manual to living the Buddhist life at all levels
Keown - how one puts an end to suffering
by fulfilling the human potential for goodness and happiness
Alan Watts - what ‘sumyak’ is better translated to than ‘right’
the middle way and point of balance
Cush - why right speech is singled out in the Noble Eightfold Path
speech is one of the most common ways of harming or helping others
Cush - why right livelihood is singled out in the Noble Eightfold Path
people with ‘blameless personal morality’ do not always apply this to their business dealings
Keown - similarity / relation between virtue and wisdom
both necessary conditions for nirvana that are not sufficient independently
Keown - what is wisdom
a profound philosophical understanding of the human condition
Gethin - the opposite of the three poisons
- non attachment (alobha)
- loving kindness (metta)
- wisdom (panna)
Gethin - conditions required to be content and how these are achieved
-mind must be free from guilt and remorse
-this is achieved through attaining a clear conscience through generosity and good conduct
Bodhi - response to the question of whether the 4 Noble Truths or Noble Eightfold Path is more important
pointless question due to their integral unity, but if we were to risk the pointless it would be the path
Cush - what is the ‘right intention’
seeing one’s goal as enlightenment and unselfish love for all beings
Cush - the importance of right view
without initial acceptance of the Buddha’s analysis, one would not bother with the rest of the path
Keown - demonstration of the high value on a virtuous life
those who gain enlightenment continue to live exemplary moral lives
Gethin - the Threefold Way suggests a basic relationship between what
one’s understanding, actions, and underlying emotional state
Gethin - the relationship of the three aspects of the Threefold Way
they exist, operate, and are developed in a mutually dependent, reciprocal way
Gethin - how our views shape our actions
we turn to the world with intentions based on our views
these intentions inform how we ‘speak, act, and generally make our way in the world’
Bodhi: what the Four Noble Truths cover, and the primary response they elicit
the side of doctrine; understanding
Bodhi: what the Noble Eightfold Path covers, and the primary response it elicits
the side of discipline; practice
Bodhi - why might the Noble Eightfold Path be more important than the Four Noble Truths
it translates the dhamma from abstract formulas into a ‘continually unfolding disclosure of truth’ which is ‘accessible to us in our own experience, where alone it takes on authentic meaning’
(Mahayana) what does Chayat mean by ‘enlightenment is already here’
all things are Buddha nature, enlightenment is just the full realisation of this
(Mahayana) Chayat’s explanation of separation between Buddha nature and the self
there is none! there is only the illusion of separation and a permanent self
Zen Master Rinzai: ‘we are all done…
…just as we are’
Shakyamuni Buddha: ‘all living beings are…
…Buddha nature’
(Mahayana) Chayat - why nibbana cannot be explained
‘that which is without limits cannot be defined’
the complete penetrating wisdom and understanding required cannot be diminished to something entirely teachable and logical
(Mahayana) the quote Chayat likes by Obaku: ‘those who seek the way…
…must enter it with the suddenness of a knife-thrust’
(Mahayana) Chayat - comparison between the process of developing insight, and the moment of realisation
developing insight requires grinding, sustained effort, but the realisation is instantaneous when understanding falls into place
