SDP and linking examples for Buddhism Flashcards
What examples link with the SDP, ‘Important places, texts and unique language and their significance’ (1) (3) (1)
Text; Pali Canon (Tripitaka) - Three texts; Sutta, Abhidhamma, Vinaya ; importance is that it establishes the teachings and rules made by Buddha which are meant to be adhered to by Buddhists
Places; Temple of the tooth, Mahbodhi temple, Boudhanath Stupa. All of these religious locations are important because they are a confirmation of existence, dedication and identity. Mahbodhi is the place where the bodhi tree was, Boudhanath stupa is thee place where the Buddha was buried, temple of the tooth is where the relic of a tooth is.
Language; Pali
What examples link with the SDP, ‘ The role of Symbols, customs and rituals’ (1) (1) (3)
Symbols; Lotus; showing that you can reach Enlightenment even from dirty roots, a sign of purity.
Custom; Pouring water over the Buddha’s shoulder; this is done because it symbolises inner purification, and this is also done while saying three things; vowing to do good deeds, have good thoughts and good words
Rituals; Repetition of mantras, chants and meditation
What examples link with the SDP, ‘the importance of myths and stories’ (3)
Stories of;
Buddha’s aunt asking the Buddha to allow for a nun sangha - results in the formation of a nun sangha
The story about Buddha’s childhood and the three sights - results in him seeking the path to achieving Enlightenment
Myth about how the Buddha discovered the secrets under the Bodhi Tree - results in him being able to establish the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path which are important aspects to achieving Nirvana for adherents
What examples link with the SDP, ‘how the belief system or ideology defines gender and gender roles’ (5)
Past story; The story about how Buddha accepted women into the Sangha after much deliberation shows that Buddhism respects women and accepts them in the Sangha, however this isn’t seen throughout every Buddhist temple.
Situation in the Thai Sangha; Thai Sangha refusing to accept women as nuns in the Sangha because they believe that women won’t be able to live the life of a monastic well.
Dhammananda Bhikkhuni; Defines traditional gender roles of the Thai Sangha and this causes dissent, and she decides to become a nun, to help change the expectations of women in the Thai Sangha, and slowly creating change
Mae Chees; Mae Chees are essentially temple hands who help with running the temples in which monks live in, and these roles are typically subservient to the monks and the higher roles in the temple, thus defining women as being inferior in the Thai Sangha
Vinaya; More rules for nuns than monks. However, despite this it is typically to protect the nuns and they both essentially follow the same rules, further supporting the idea that Buddhism supports women
What examples link with the SDP, ‘The role of important people and power structures’ (5)
The structure of the Thai Sangha; Supreme Patriarch, Council of elders all the way down to head abbots etc
Communication between the Thai Sangha and the government; shows the role that the power structure of the Thai Sangha has on the government, through the council of elders talking to different departments of the gov
Thai Sangha and legal system; The Thai Sangha is so powerful that it has an influence on one of the biggest power structures in Thailand of the legal system, that monks get reduced sentences
Important people and power structures allow for the promotion of non-Buddhist values in Myanmar; Because the Buddhist temples and Sanghas are so well-established in Myanmar, they have a lot of power over the mainly Buddhist society, and this is an abuse of important power structures in Myanmar as they are used to promote nationalism and violence against Rohingya Muslims
Abuse of use of power and power structure in Thailand; Dhammajayo allowing for the embezzlement and laundering of money.
What examples link with the SDP, ‘The role and impact of dissent.’ (3)
Creates change.
Dissent from Buddhist values by Buddhist monks in the Thai Sangha; Protesting (using violence), seeking worldly pleasures; sexual and substance abuse, Valuing of money (which is against the belief that money will make you happy and says that money is only good if it is used for good purposees
Dissent from Buddhist values by Buddhist monks in the Myanmar Sangha; Ma Ba Tha and U Wirathu promoting violence and inciting hatred towards the Rohingya Muslims. Wirathu leading a boycott of muslim businesses. Ma Ba Tha promoting ultranationalism (thus wanting to get rid of Muslims) and supporting the Military Junta in their attempt for power to be able to get rid of the Muslims
Dissent against the Thai Sangha’s belief that women can’t become ordained by Dhammananda Bhikkhuni; Caused change in the Thai Sangha in allowinf for more Thai women to become ordained
What examples link with the SDP, ‘The nature and impact of change and resistance to change.’ (3)
Rejection of Muslims in Myanmar (afraid of the change that will take place in Burmese society if Muslims are allowed to mass immigrate into Myanmar); This causes violence to occur as there is the prosecution of Rohingya Muslims by the Buddhist monks who want to protect their religion as they are afraid that the increased Muslims will dilute their religion
Resisting to the change that Dhammananda Bhikkhuni is bringing in relation to issues of gender; The Thai Sangha not recognising Dhammananda as part of the Sangha
Saffron Revolution which arose out of the want for a change in the democracy of the country of Myanmar, this resulted in a resistance to change by the government and resulted in the killings of many Buddhist monks in 2007; In the end resulted in the formation of the democratic government. The Burmese gov who was against it
What examples link with the SDP, ‘The impact of technologies and globalisation on continuity and change.’ (5)
Formation of online websites which promote Buddhism; Sakyadhita - allows for a communication system for Buddhist women not only bhikkhunis, and also a platform to access publications by Buddhist women(academics); BuddhaNet - Is a platform in which people around the world can access tons of resources regarding Buddhism such as the Pali Canon, and is essentially an online-sangha; Buddhist Geeks - A podcast system which links Buddhism to different aspects of Western world and is thus more relevant today and all this is able to garner attention towards Buddhism
(Change in values) Allowed for the ideas of materialism and individualism to seep into the Thai Sangha; The increased use of technology allows Westernisation and Modernisation to occur to a great extent and thus Buddhist monks develop ideas of materialism and individualism which overrides their core Buddhist teachings, seen through the embezzlement of money which is not what Buddhists support in the following of the Eightfold path, also seen through Wirapol
(Change in values) Allowed for ideas of ultranationalism to enter Myanmar and infilitrate the Buddhist ranks; leads to the discrimination of Rohingya Muslims.
The technology allows for everyone around the world to see what is happening; everyone around the world can witness the atrocities which are occurring in Myanmar, and thus results in the worldwide community wanting change in the treatment of Muslims in Myanmar. Furthermore, the technology also shows the discrimination of women in the Thai Sangha as well as the rampant corruption within the structure of the Buddhist temples, i.e. Dhammajayo
Globalisation allowing Dhammananda Bhikkhuni to go to a diff country to get ordained, creating change
What exampels link with the SDP, ‘ the relationship of the belief system or ideology to ethical issues in society.’ (3)
Buddhist promotion of the discrimination of gender in Thailand; The Thai Sangha in Thailand is extremely patriarchal who supports men being monks however does not allo for women to be nuns of fear of losing their power, this depicts blatant sexism wwwithin the Thai Sangha
Committing crimes by the Thai Sangha; Corruption where several monks were caught trying to embezzle money, including Phra Dhammajayo, sexual assault and fraud by Wirapol Sukhpol, consumption and selling of drugs by Thai monks
Buddhist promotion of discrimination of religion in Myanmar; Prominent Buddhists and Buddhist organisations supporting the prosecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. This can be seen through the Ma Ba Tha promoting violence and inciting hatred towards the Rohingya Muslims as well as backing the military junta as they know that the military junta will deport the Muslims whom they don’t want in Myanmar because they are considered illegal migrants
What examples link with the SDP, ‘ the relationship of the belief system or ideology to peace and conflict in the world.’ (5)
Contributes to peace through the values that they are meant to have and spread; Their core values include not doing any other living thing harm as well as the following of the eightfold path which encourages ‘right actions and right thoughts’ which will contribute positively to bringing about peace
Some Burmese monks calling out the Ma Ba Tha etc. on their conflict; this tries to bring about peace regarding the Rohingya Muslims, however these monks or citizens who promote peace within the Myanmar Sangha have been looked down upon
Technology usages such as Buddha Net to tell everyone about the teachings of the Buddha and this contributes to peace because Buddhist teachings encourage them to be peaceful
However, despite the attempts at peace, it is commonly outweighed by the different examples of conflict that we have.
Conflict in Myanmar incited by Buddhist monks; This is able to be seen through the organisation Ma Ba Tha as well as the individual Wirapol who all support violence towards the Muslims whom they see as illegal migrants, also there is the supporting of the military junta who wants to bring conflict towards the Muslims and kick them out of the country
Conflict in Thailand incited by Buddhist monks; This is seen through the stabbings which occurred when one of thee Buddhist monks found out that someone he’s been dating was cheating on him, story of Buddha Issara who was anti-government and initiated protests and also incited hatred and used violence against the Dhammakaya temple, led a militia style mob and allowed his heavily armed guards to attack police. Also there is the protests against the arrest of Dhammajayo which is conflict despite being instructed to show compassion towards all living things. Dr Lee’s monastery being burnt down and being shot at
