Buddhism Flashcards
Shaman Movement is known as
Gangetic Spirituality
Shamana Movement caused
- Gave rise to various “schools”
-Rise of Buddhism as a prominent religion shappens due to this societal change
Characteristics of Buddhism
-Arises out of Hindu context
-Buddha’s teaching are at the core, but various sects have diverse practices/understandings
-No single institutional structure or orthodoxy
-Many sects, initially 18 sects
Theravada
Thera (elder) + vada (“discussion”) : 3rd century BCE, estd. In Sri Lanka
Mahayana
Maha (great) + yana (vehicle) : 1st -5th century, SE Asia
Vajrayana
Vajra (thunderbolt/diamond) + yana : 7th century CE, Tibet
Who was Buddha
-Born in Shakya clan, present day Nepal
- Buddha: Indian and Western Scholars
- 566-486 BCE
- Sri Lanka and SE Asia - 624 - 544 BCE
- Sources from Tibet and China : 448 -368 BCE
- Parinirvana or bliss achieved after life
- Became Buddha after attaining Nirvana
Four Sights
Sick Man
Old Man
Dead Man
Ascetic
First Sermon
Known as Instruction on Middle Oath
Delivered at Sarnath
4 Nobel Truths
-No living being can escape
-Suffering arises form craving or desire
-Suffering will cease when desire ceases
-Follow the Eightfold path
Three Refuges or Three Jewels or Triple Gem
- Buddha
-Dharma (Dhamma Teaching) - Sangha (Monks, nuns, lay Buddhist as a community
Five Precepts
- Do not harm or destroy life of living creatures
- Do not Steal, or take what is not given
- Do not engage in sexual misconduct (Monastics are celibate and no sex outide marraige for lay Buddhist)
- Do not lie
- Do not take intoxicants (Liquor or substances that cause intoxication)
Sangha
- Composed initially of initiated males or monks, nuns, and laity allowed to be aprt of Sangha much later
- Monk: Bhikshu (bhikku)
- Nun: Bhikshuni (Bhikkuni)
- Householder or lay Buddhist: Grihasta (male)/ Grihini (female)
Trikaya
- Mahuana concept, Buddha understood to have 3 bodies
- Earthly manifestation - Nirmankaya
- Devotional body - Sambhogkaya
- Absolute essence of universe - Dharmakaya
Tripitaka
- Sutra Pitika: discourse on dhamma (Dharma )
- Vinaya Pitika: discourse on monastic rules (disclipline)
- Abhidhamma P: systematic treatise or further discourse on Buddha’s teaching
3 Marks of Existence
- dukkha= suffering
- Anitya (anicca)= impermanecne
- Anatman (anatta)= no self (opposite to Vedantic/Upanishadic concept of atman is part of the eternal brahman)
Bodhisattva
Ideal practitioner, forgoes their nirvana to help others
Arhat
worthy one or someone who has realized the idea/ on path to realize spiritual perfection (nirvana)
Skandhas
five aggregates that constitutes human sensation
Upaya
literally solution, Mahyana concept of skillful means
Emperor Ashoka (Asoka)
273-232 BCE
3rd emperor of Mauryan Dynasty, India’s first Empire
Under his patronage Buddhism enjoyed its Golden Age
Empire of Ashoka
Ahima a major precept to run his state
Sent groups of monks to distant lands (Mediterranean and Mesopotamia world “west” in an attempt to spread Dharma
Employed edicts within his territory to create markers that were used as “advertisement”
Markers were divided in 3 tiers
1st: pillars (core regions)
2nd: rock edicts (regions under control)
3rd: Minor rock edicts (periphery of his empire)
Stupa
Means heap or pileup
Above ground crypt, half hemisphere (anda) covers the funerary remains
Pre-Buddhist and pan-Indian presence to house the remains “burial mound”
Until recently predominantly linked to buddhism
Elements of Stupa
Anda (solid hemisphere) represents the “dome” or the sky
At the center of this hemisphere is a reliquary, holding the funerary remains
Funerary remains at the center of the solid dome is a metaphor for the reliquary as the center of the universe creating sacred geography
Vedika or the fence surrounds the Stupa, separating the sacred from the profane
4 openings/gates in the Vedika, these are marked by Torana
Space between Vedika and Stupa is identified as Pradikshina-path or circumambulatory path (devotees walk clockwise around Stupa)
Stupa is topped with a set of umbrellas, Chatris a sign of royalty/sacrality
Engaged Buddhism
20 century movement called Engaged Buddhism aroses in the Asian Buddhist communities that critique the coail problems and aims to improve the situation of poor and oppressed peoples
