buddhism beliefs Flashcards
Siddhartha’s birth
-Queen maya dreamed a white elephant came down from heaven and old her she would birth a holy child
-she gave birth to siddharth in the lumbini gardens where she stopped to take a rest on the way to her parents house
-siddhartha was able to walk talk immediantly, he walked seven steps and lotus flowers appereared in his steps and declared that he would not be reborn
-prophecy that he would become a king or a holy man
Siddharthas life of luxury
- king suddhodana wanted to protected sid from hardship siddhartha grew up in a palce surrounded by luxury and his father prepared him to become king
The four sights
- One day he decided to leave the palace where he saw the four sights
-old man
-sick man
-holy man
-dead man
leaving the palace
- wanted to find answers to suffering
-so he left the palace and his life of luxury —leaving his newborn son,-renunciation
Living as an ascetic
- siddhartha followed the ways of the ascetic for 6 years
- he did this by eating one grain of rice per day
- and learning to meditate
‘‘when the great being was practicing austeries for six years’
turning away from ascetiscim
- he realised he was too thin and weak he could not meditate effectively
-learnt discipline and will power but didnt find the cause of suffering
-accepted rice and milk from a girl nearby
Siddharthas meditation
- the demon mara tried to distract siddhartha
-sending his daughters
-sending his armies
-offering siddhartha his kingdom
-questioning siddhartha right to sit at the seat of enlightenment
3 watches of the night
-first watch-siddhartha gained knowledge of his past lives
-second watch- he understood the repetitive cycle of birth death and rebirth
-third watch-he understood taht beings suffer because of desire and attatchment
what is the dhamma
-the truth about the nature of existance as he understood by the buddha when he became enlightened
-the path of training the buddha recommended for anyone who wants to get closer to enlightenment
-a universal law that governs how reality works
the importance of the dhamma
- there are three refuges in buddhism( the buddha, the dhamma, and the sangha
-for a buddhist the three jewels are the central values in their life
-in buddhism rituals it is commen to recite the regues
‘to the buddha for refuge i go
to the dhamma for refuge to go
to the sangha for refuge i go’
What is dependant arising
-the idea that everything depends on supporting conditions: nothing is independant.
-also means that evryting in a constant process of change
‘all events and incidents in life are so intimately linked with the fate of others that a single person on his or her own cannot even begin his act’-tenzin gyatso
‘every wave is related to every other wave’
The tibetan wheel of life
- an image that illustrates dependant arising as applied to the birth, death and rebirth
outer wheel 12 links or stages illustrate how human beings are subject to birth death and rebirth
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dukkha- three marks of existance
buddhism teaches that suffering is an inevitable part of life - seven states of suffering
physical- birth
-old age
-sickness
- death
mental- speration from someone you love
- contact with someone or
sometjing you dislike
-not being able to achieve you
desires
types of suffering
-dukkha dukkhata-ordinary suffering- physical or mental suffering
-viparinama-dukkha- caused by losing somethimg good
-samkhara dukkha-suffering due to attachment- dissatsisfaction with life as a result of craving and attachment
Annica- three marks of existance
- impermanance, everything is constantly changing
relationship between anicca and dukkha
-buddhism teaches that when people expect things they become attached to them.Story of Kisa Gotami
anatta- three marks of existance
-the idea that people do not have a fixed self or soul-illustrated in te story of nagasena and the chariot
the five agregates
-form-our bodies
-sensation-our feelings
-perception-our ways of interpreting and understandig things
-mental formations-our thoughts
-consciousness-our general awareness of things
four noble truths
there is suffering-dukkha
suffering has a cause-samudaya
suffering can come to an end-nirodha
there is a means to bring suffering to an end-magga’ the truth of suffering is like a disease, the truth of origin is like the cause of disease the truth of cessation is like the cure of the disease and truth of the path is like medicine’
First Noble truth-the truth of suffering (dukkha)
-suffering is univeral it affects everyone at some point in their lives
second noble truth-the causes of suffering (tanha)
-tanha means craving
1)sensory craving
2)craving for being
3)craving for non being
three poisons
- greed or desire
-hatred or anger
-ignorence
third noble truth
- a person can end suffering through their own actions and efforts
- people suffer because of craving and attachment
- they should recognise nothing lasts
fourth noble truth
- how to overcome suffering
- eightfold path and threefold way
theravada buddhists
- ordination in the monastic community is emphasised
- full ordination is primarily reserved for men#
- the buddha is a focus of worship and is seen as a teacher and a guide not considered a god
mahayana buddhists
- sunyata ( emptiness)
- nothing has a fixed, unindependant, unchanging nature
- Buddha nature is an important mahayana tradition
the arhat
- perfected person overcome the main sources of suffering
- no longer reborn when they die
- goal is achieve by following the eightfold path
bodhisattiva
- sees their own enlightenment as being bound up with the enlightenment of all beings
- after enlightenment they choose to remain in the cycle of samsara to help others achieve enlightenment too
-‘however innumberable sentient beings are i vow to save them’- bodhisatttva vow
pure land buddhism
- based on faith in amitabha buddha believed to have created a paradise or pure land faith call skhavati when he became enlightened
-hope to be reborn here
how to reach pure land
- five practices
- reading scriptures
- meditating on amitabha and his paradise
- worshipping amitabha chanting his name
- and making praises and offerings
six perfections- great minds perform excellent masterpeices wonderfullys
- genorisity- to be charitable in all that is done
-morality- to live ethically by following the moral precepts - patience- to practise being patient with all things
- energy- to cultivate the energy and perseverence needed to keep going
-meditation-to develop concentration and awareness
-wisdom- to obtain wisdom and understanding
- buddha nature
- everyone has the essence of nature of buddha
- a persons buddha nature is hidden by desires attachments, ignorence and negative thoughts
- when a person trul comes to understand the buddhas teachings tehy experiance buddha nature
5 aggregates
- form- a persons body
- sensation- feelings or sensations
- perception- how you recognise what things are
- mental formations- thoughts and opinions
- consciousness- general awareness
eightfold path
- consists of eight aspects that buddhists practise and live by in order to achieve enlightenment.split three ways( three fold way)
1) Ethics - right speech
- right action
- right livelihood
2) meditaion - right effort
- right mindfulness
- right concentration
3) Wisdom - right understanding right intention
