Week 1: Introduction

Question 1

Buddhism

Answer 1

Buddhism is a non-theistic religion that is founded on the enlightenment or awakening experience of Siddhartha Gautama - the Buddha (awakened one).

Buddhism believes that nothing is fixed or permanent and that change is always occurring through interconnecting relationships of causes and conditions.

Question 2

The Middle Way

Answer 2

The Middle Way is a path that is structured around the three elements of morality, wisdom and meditation.

Question 3

What is a “Buddha”?

Answer 3

*The word buddha is not a name but a title; its meaning is ‘one who has
woken up’.

Question 4

Three elements of Buddhist Philosophy

Answer 4

• Impermanence: all things are impermanent and subject to change
• No-self: no fixed essence or substantial qualities –more like a process idea of self.
• Interdependence (dependent co-origination): sometimes called the “great chain of being” -a stream of creative processes in which nothing persists or endures but is radically inter-dependent

Question 5

Four truths/realities of Buddhism

Answer 5

1. Suffering (dukkha)
2. Origin of suffering (dukkha-samudaya)
3. Cessation of suffering (dukkha-nirodha)
4. The path leading to the cessation of suffering (dukkha-nirodha-gāminī paṭipadā)

Question 6

The Five Aggregates (khandhas/skandhas) of Buddhism

Answer 6

• 1. Form (rupa).
• 2. Feeling (vedana).
• 3. Perception/discernment (sanna/samjna).
• 4. Mental events/volitions/dispositions (sankhara/samskara).
• 5. Consciousness (vinnana/vijnana).

Question 7

Buddhist Schools

Answer 7

• Theravada Buddhism
• Mahayana Buddhism
• Vajrayana : sub-school of Mahayana

Question 8

Theravada Buddhism

Answer 8

• Way of the Elders”
• Individualistic – the Theravadin ideal is the arhat (perfected saint)
• Importance of monastic community – life of renunciation
• Enlightenment is only possible for monks
• Mindfulness meditation teachings
• Found in Sri Lanka; Myanmar (Burma); Thailand; Cambodia; Laos
• Scriptures – The Pali Canon

Question 9

Mahayana Buddhism

Answer 9

• “Greater vehicle” – Sanskrit
• Larger, more liberal, less homogenous tradition
• Arose within Indian Buddhism around the beginning of the common era – by 9th Century the dominant school
• Enlightenment is achievable in everyday life
• Ideal figure: the Bodhisattva -“being for enlightenment”
• Emphasis on compassion esp. universal compassion
• Found in Tibet; Mongolia; Korea; Japan; Vietnam; China

Question 10

Vajrayana : sub-school of Mahayana

Answer 10

• Tibetan Buddhism
• Also known as tantra
• Fusion of Bon (Tibetan indigenous religion) & Buddhism
• Fruition path – complex meditative exercises and visualizations