Buddhism cont Flashcards
Buddhist beliefs - Atheistic theology
there is no Brahman or gods
you save yourself - Buddha’s show the way
Buddha - disillusioned Hindu
since there is no high god, folk belief is widely practiced (spirit houses, fortune telling)
salvation by self righteousness
Buddha
disillusioned hindu
enlightened humans, compassionate and all knowing, teach by word and example to reach spiritual maturity
do not worship Buddha’s, instead copy what they have done
Buddhist beliefs - the middle way
practical and balanced
not compromised
difficult and demanding task
rejection of worldliness and asceticism (balance)
Buddhist belief - Desire and Enlightenment
have inverse relationship
desire = personal ambition, craving, longing, selfishness, obsession
when decreased desire, increased enlightenment
- buddha gave up obsession of becoming enlightened, then he finally reached enlightenment
Buddhist Belief - The 4 noble truths
- suffering is part of life
- life is hard, so lets accept that
- suffering = mental anguish, empty, anxiety, frustration, mental health, incompleteness, unsatisfactoriness, - suffering is due to selfish desires
- desire = flame - suffering will stop if desires are crushed
- we can do something about desire = if you take away the fuel, you will stop the fire - the way to crush desires is to follow the 8-fold path
Buddhist belief - aiming for “nirvana”
“to be extinguished/blow out” fire/desires
“nothingness” (burning, destabilization)
state of being or non-being
no earth, fire or air
end of suffering/desires
defined by what it is not
can reach nirvana in death when in deep meditation
Buddhist Belief - Death and afterlife
Anatman = ‘no self’
do not cling to “I” - when die –> body breaks into 5 diff pieces and you disperse across the universe and join with other pieces and you are reincarnated into diff person than last life
5 skandhas (death and afterlife)
- form (physical form, what you look like)
- feeling (emotive state)
- Perception (intellect)
- Inherent impulses (karmic disposition)
- Background consciousness
Buddhist Practice - private practice
The enlightened path (like a spiraling staircase)
WISDOM
1. right view - understand and accept 4 noble truths
2. right intentions - having right attitude of goodwill/for change
ETHICS
3. right speech - humble (do not boast, gossip, lie) use for good
4. right action - respecting others, no murder, stealing, adultery
5. right livelihood
MENTAL DISCIPLINE
6. right effort - follow at own speed, not about reaching nirvana before others
7. right concentration - calm and free, governs mind and discipline
8. right mindfulness - meditation (not yoga), technique to control mind, resist evil, self abnegation, stillness
What is the goal of buddhist practice?
if you follow and do well = reach a state of no desire and become an “arhat” (saint) –> on your way to become buddha, conquers 3 intoxicants of life
- sensuality (controled by senses)
- ignorance
- desire
Bodhisattva
Saviour, buddha being, sacrifice yourself to not reach nirvana so they are skandhas to help other people
The dharmacakra
wheel of law/duty –> how to achieve nirvana
Buddhist practice - corporate
temples
Buddhism has tribal characteristics
triangle (wisdom, water, fire, air, earth at bottom)
AKA pagodas, stupa, wats, de gobas
many buddhas in temples
gongs - life is like the sound (there and then isnt)
lotus flower - out of merky water (darkness/cloudiness) comes a brought flower (enlightenment)
sticks (incense)
Buddhist practice - communal
becoming a monk:
must be a certain age
apply to vocation/monastery (novis)
interview
take a vow of how long you will stay
after that time is out, monk does reflection to see if want to stay
take another vow
3rd time vow –> monk for life (more teaching and levels to become higher level monk)
bikhu
monk
Sects of buddhism
Theravada
Mahayana
Vajrayana
Theravada Buddhism
AKA Hinyana (“little wagon”)
teaching of the ancients
no divine help
not a lot of images (no point b/c Buddha’s are in nirvana)
reach Nirvana by 8-fold path (1. self 2. ignorance 3. desire)
very impossible to become a Buddha (only 28 people have become buddhas)
lots of folk religion d/t almost impossible to become a buddha
acts of merit very important
medium sized
Mahayana Buddhism
“big vehicle/wagon”
biggest/global
north
libral - china, tibet, japan, napal
room for everyone
there are 1000s of buddhas (innumerable
can pray to buddha
accommodating to all people
devotion speeds up enlightenment
giver theravada nickname of hinyana
bodhisattva (becoming)
Vajrayana Buddhism
“diamond vehicle”
in tibet
smallest, but most famous
the Dalai Lama
Mantras (use as access to spiritual passages, phrase, prayer wheels
Mudras - body positions
Mandalas - figure, form that has spiritual meaning, 3 dimensional, space/house spirits liv
The dalai lama
spiritual teacher
Dalai (ocean) - “ocean of wisdom”
real name = Lhamo Thondup
chosen by divination after past dalai lama dies
Zen Buddhism
ch’an (meditation –> “zen”)
type of Mahayana Buddhism
zen garden - abstraction - take symbols and make explementary
about looking inward and connecting to the universe
zazen - seated meditation
sazen - interviews with zen masters
koans - riddles which push beyond logic (not anti-logic, but seeks to go beyond logic - need to utilize intuition)
Social Buddhism
idea that socialism and Buddhism are connected
socialism - people have all things in common, everyone is benefiting
similar - end goal, sharing in merrit (melding together Buddhism and socialism)
Buddhist writings
Tripitake - Pali (theravadas) - three baskets (life of buddha, previous life, academic study), oldest, group of scholars
Sutras - sanskrit
- oral tradition/also written
- used for meditation
