buddhism Flashcards
what is the story of the gautama buddha?
siddhartha gautama was a wealthy prince and it was prophesied that he would either be a good ruler or a holy man
the king wanted him to become a ruler so he prevented him from leaving the palace.
however he left and saw an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a holy man so he left the palace and decided to find the cause of suffering
what is nirvana?
nirvana is the goal of buddhism
people who attain nirvana can escape the cycle of samsara and become a buddha or a bodhisattva
what are the four noble truths?
all life is suffering
suffering is caused by desire
if you stop desire you stop suffering
desire is stopped through the eightfold path
what is the eightfold path?
the way to stop suffering
what is dukkha?
suffering or dissatisfaction
it is caused by desire, the desire for impermanent things and the suffering that comes after they disappear
how does samsara work in buddhism?
similarly to hinduism, the level of reincarnation is based on karma and commitment to dharma
however, there is only one class of humans and level is determined based on the actions that they do in their life
what is the middle way and how did the buddha teach it?
the middle way is a path between self indulgence and self denial
recognize harmful desire and good desire
where was the mauryan empire located?
modern day india and other surrounding countries
who was chandragupta and kautilya and how were they important?
chandragupta was the first ruler of the mauryan empire who gained power by overthrowing the current empire
kautilya was chandragupta’s prime minister and advisor
kautilya wrote the arthasastra, which detailed how to rule an empire and advised to set up a network of spies
who was ashoka and what is his story?
ashoka was the third ruler of the mauryan empire
he was originally a very cruel leader known for his torture chamber called hell on earth and it was even rumored that he killed his brothers to attain the throne
however, after his empire destroyed the kingdom of kalinga and ashoka walked through the ruins he had a change of heart and turned to buddhism, making monuments all around the empire
what are edicts?
edicts are carvings of text make by ashoka on rocks pillars and caves
they are proclamations about how he is going to rule and other core concepts he believes in
what kind of a society was the mauryan empire?
it was a pluralistic society because chandragupta allowed local princes to maintain their power and regions to keep their culture even after their addition to the mauryan empire
what was on ashoka’s pillars?
on the top of ashoka’s pillars were lions and a 24 spoked dharmachakra
the lion is a symbol for royal power as well as the gautama buddha who was from the lion clan
the 24 spoked dharmachakra or the ashoka chakra represents ashoka’s 24 core beliefs
what are stupas?
stupas are recreations of the buddha’s burial place
they feature an area to walk around and think about the buddha’s teachings
inside them are now important items to holy people other than the buddha
what is a bodhisattva?
some one who has attained nirvana but choses to continue being reincarnated as a human
