Buddhism

Question 0

Sacred writings

Answer 0

Tripitaka (three baskets) - first council produced Pali canon from recitations of Buddha’s teaching; not written down for several centuries
Sutta-pitaka (basket of discourses) - doctrinal teaching
Vinaya-pitaka (basket of discipline) - rules and regulations
Abhidhamma - supplement contains reflection and etching
Lotus Sutra - teaching of Mahayana doctrine

Question 1

Founder

Answer 1

Gautama Siddahartha (b. ~563 BC)
   Royal Indian family (Shakya tribe)
   Carefully protected by father
   "Awakened" at around age 30: the middle path
Buddha: the Awakened One
Shakyamuni: the wise
Man of the Shakya tribe

Question 2

God (gods)

Answer 2

Buddhists do not believe in one almighty God
Shakyamuni taught the speculation about the existence of God “tends not edification”
Because Buddhism has adapted to each culture it has entered, some forms include worship of divine beings (e.g.! Ancestor worship in China)

Question 3

Humans

Answer 3

No self
Human beings have no permanent identity that endures from one
moment to the next
What is reborn (reincarnated) is a constantly changing “stream” or
“flame” (wave)

Question 4

The four noble truths

Answer 4

Life is suffering
The cause of suffering is desire of attachment
The cure lies in overcoming attachment
Overcoming attachment gloves following the Eightfold Path

Question 5

Life is suffering

Answer 5

Did not doubt one could have a good time. But wondered how much of life is enjoyable.
Wondered at what level life is enjoyable
Felt it was very superficial
At the core of life is darkness and desperation

Question 6

Off balance

Answer 6

Felt that pain skews all of existence .
Used example of a cart with axles misaligned, or bones out of socket.
Life is out of joint, something is wrong.

Question 7

Specific on pain

Answer 7

Buddha listed the following as times when this suffering is most evident.
Birth trama
Illness
Old age (decrepit)
Fear of death

Question 8

Desire

Answer 8

Desire is the cause of life’s pain
Generally the desire is that of personal fulfillment. This pulls against life
Selflessness produces freedom

Question 9

The cure

Answer 9

One must be rid of life’s selfish cravings

This will release us from the limitations of self interest to broad life and be relieved of our torment

Question 10

Nirvana (salvation)

Answer 10

“Blowing out” of desire, attachment
Escape from samsara (reincarnation)
The eightfold path has a presupposition that as Christians we already know but Buddha thought it so evident that he never explicitly names as a “fold” of the path and that is “right association”

Question 11

Prescription for cure

Answer 11

Eightfold path
   Right knowledge (four noble truths)
   Right aspiration (focus on seeking enlightenment)
   Right speech (truth, charity)
   Right behavior (moral precepts)
   Right livelihood (monk role that promotes life)
   Right effort (moral exertion)
   Right mindfulness (keep mind in control)
   Right absorption/meditation

Question 12

Right aspiration

Answer 12

Need to truly decide what we really want. Indecisiveness will kill any attempt at enlightenment.
One must seek enlightenment with intense focus, only them will we make progress.

Question 13

Right speech

Answer 13

First notice your speech without really trying to make changes.
Speech should be truth
Speech should be clear
False witness, chatter, gossip, slander and abuse to be avoided.

Question 14

Right behavior

Answer 14

Very similar to the ethical portion of the ten commandments
Do not kill (includes all animal forms)
Do not steal
Do not lie
Do not be unchaste
Do not take drugs or drink intoxicants

Question 15

Right occupation

Answer 15

Best case is to be a monk
Spiritual progress is impossible if one’s occupation pulls against it.
As we have sen, one must give extreme focus on one’s enlightenment so one’s occupation must assist, not hinder the project
Several occupations are not conducive to enlightenment

Question 16

“Bad” occupations

Answer 16

“The hand of the dyer is subdued by the dye in which it works”
Occupations that destroy rather than promote life are ill advised.
Poison peddler, slave trader, prostitute, butcher, brewer, arms maker,
Tax collector are all life killers and will hinder or outright stop spiritual
Progress

Question 17

Right effort

Answer 17

Enlightenment and therefore salvation can be achieved by force of will
Right effort is 100%

Question 18

Right mindedness

Answer 18

Gave great weight on the minds as an influence on life. “All we are is the result of what we have thought”
Similar western concept is that “we are the sum of our total experiences”
Felt that “to understand something is to be delivered of it”
Continuos self-examination
Must be totally self-aware
Maintain steady attention to thoughts and feelings

Question 19

Right absorption

Answer 19

Similar to raja yoga
Meditation on oneself
One can meditate continuously

Question 20

Result

Answer 20

With the removal of all delusion, craving, and hostility one can perceive things as they really are.
All supposition is removed and only perception remain and the mind can rest in tis true and actual condition

Question 21

Eternity

Answer 21

Reincarnation until enlightenment

When Buddha died, he entered nirvana and became inaccessible

Question 22

What questions do Buddhism types answer?

Answer 22

Are people independent or interdependent?
Is the universe friendly, hostile, or indifferent?
What is the best part of the human self; the head or the heart?
Buddha said “workout you own salvation with diligence”

Question 23

Mahayana

Answer 23

Great raft (ferry)
Stresses grace
Made space for lay people (Buddhism for the people)
Because of the number of people their theology could get to nirvana, they were the big raft. Very popular.
Broke into many schools

Question 24

Hinayana

Answer 24

Little raft (ferry)
Hate the name Hinayana and call themselves theravada Buddhists
Closer to buddha’s original message
In it alone. You build your own ferry and cross the river of life by yourself
Stayed one school

Question 25

Mahayana schools

Answer 25

Pure land school - Buddha will take them to a paradise in the west
Zen (ch’an) - seems charming but totally mad at first. Known for obscure conundrums, non sequiturs, paradox and flagrant contradictions. This carried on in a cheerful innocent style.
Zen cannot be put into words language too limiting

Question 26

Zen

Answer 26

They think on things that reason cannot engage.
He is to think on the absurd without reason. He is forbidden to dismiss anything because it is unreasonable.
Reason is too limited to reach truth and it needs the assistance of zazen which is activated by exhausting reason

Question 27

The diamond way - Tibetan Buddhism

Answer 27

Claimed to be able to get to nirvana in one lifetime
Uses all energies in the human makeup not just mental
Unlike the others, their meditation is noisy and they can dress outlandishly. Use speech, vision, and gestures believing that this need not be a distraction but an energy source.

Question 28

The Dalai-lama - quote

Answer 28

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”

Question 29

Dalai-lama - quote when asked what surprised him the most about humanity

Answer 29

“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does he does enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

Question 30

Full circle

Answer 30

Buddhism appears to be a failure in India at first glance.
Co-opted into Hinduism like most religions eventually are.
If one looks closely, however, one can see how Buddhism changed Hinduism significantly from its ancient forms.

Question 31

The difference

Answer 31

Jesus does not give recipes that show the way to God as other teachers of religion do. He himself is the way.
Karl Barth