Yr 11: Buddhism Flashcards
Prince Siddhartha Gautama and The Four Sights
Whilst he was a prince, he was shielded from the sufferings of life. When he went out of the royal enclosure, he saw “The Four SIghts”: Old age, Sickness, Death and Holy Man. When he saw the monk he decided this was a sign to leave royal life and become a holy man. He achieved Enlightenment and became the ‘Buddha’.
The Middle Way
Neither a life of luxury nor a life of poverty and hardship brought happiness to the Buddha. He found the ‘Middle Way’ and only then was he able to achieve Enlighttenment. It is a middle way between denial and self-inulgence. The Noble Eightfold Path represents this ideal way of living.
Nirvana/Nibbana
It is the realisation of the truth about life and relaises a person from the cycle of rebirth, The Wheel of Becoming, which brings suffering. It is the point where all craving ceases. Nibbana means ‘extinguishing’, as in extinguishing the Three Poisons. The Noble Eightfold Path allows us to achieve Enlightenment.
The Noble Eightfold Path
Consists of the eights things needed to overcome Tanha (craving) and so achieve Enlightenment.
The Way of Wisdom (true sight and a deep understanding of life)- Right View, Rights Intentions.
The Way of Morality (the right way humans shiyld behave to everything around them)- Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood.
The Way of Mental Training (indicates the spiritual practices Buddhists can perform to reach Nibbana)- Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration.
Tanha and Dukkha
Suffering is intrinsic to existence. Life can never completely satisfy us because everything is subject to anicca- they change. We rely on things to be permanent and when they aren’t, we suffer. Tanha refers to this relationship of reliance, attachment. It means desire, wanting, craving. It will cause us Dukkha because our actions are dominated by the Three Poisons.
The Three Poisons
When our actions are motivated by the Three Poisons, we end up suffering.
Greed- our desire to possess things and people in the belief that they will improve our lives.
Hatred- a powerful emotion that ties us unhappily to others.
Stupity- our ignorance or illusion about the way things really are.
The Three Marks of Existence
Anicca: there is permanence in anything. In looking for permanence, we find thr illusion of it, but really existence is impermanent and ever-changing.
Anatta: we have no permanent self. There is no ‘I’. Ego is a mode of expression for the presence of the Five Khandas.
Dukkha: suffering is intrinsic to existence. It is the concept of ‘unsatisfactoriness’.
The Wheel of Becoming
- What is it? What does is signify?
- What is it held by?
- The middle of the Wheel?
- The ring?
It is a mandala (complex picture) representing the Buddhist view of the universe. To Buddhists, existence is a cycle of birth, death, rebirth and suffering, that they seek to escape altoghether.
The Wheel is held by a demon, Yama, to symbolise the impermanence of everything. Death is not the end and is not to be feared- it is a cycle.
The middle of the heel shows the Three Poisons- the causes of suffering.
The ring displays human traits hich lead to suffering, e.g a blind man signifies ignorance.
The Five Khandas
Form- the material/physical factors, including are bodies and material things-
Sensation- when object is experienced, the experience takes on one of three emotional states: pleasure, unpleand and indifferent-
Perception- turns indefinite experience into a definite, recognised and identified experience-
Predispositions- mental formations: reactions to the informatio obtained by the senses-
Consciousness- an indispenible element in the product of experience. Mere awareness/sentivity to an object-
The Four Noble Truths
- Dukkha,
all life involves suffering. - The cause of dukkha is tanha,
if we were satisfied, we would not suffer. Craving makes people frustrated and unhappy. - The way to overcome dukkha is to overome tanha,
If a person can enjoy life without caving, they can avoid suffering and live happily. - The way to overcome tanha is the middle way (The Noble Eightfold Path),
The Buddha taught a ‘Middle Way’ between the two extremes of a life of luxury and a life of poverty and hardship. This middle way will provide happiness and get rid of greed.
Kamma
(What do Buddhists believe? The Lotus Flower symbolism?
We have some influence of the way things change. Kamma is the idea that we can and we do change shape our future.
The Lotus Flower Symbol: a lotus plant blooms and seeds at the same time. This represents the simultaneity of kamma- at the same time that we are living out the efforts from our past actions, we are creating reffects that make or impact our future.
If one is conscious of the Noble Eightfold Path, it is more likely that one will achieve englightenment and avoid bad kamma.
Buddhist divisions (Where is it dominant? Sub-divisions?)
THERAVADA- traditional, strict, follows original teachings (Pali Canon). Believe existence is full of suffering, there os no permanence in anything. They meditate and seek wisdom. Dominant in South-est Asia.
MAHAYANA- develoved from ‘Theravada’ 500 years after Buddha became enlightened. There a few sub-divisions: Zen, Tantric, Pure Land (western). Focuses on the idea of compassion and love, ‘metta’. Metta- if you want to achieve enlightenment, for others to achieve it and/or to understand Buddhism, be compassionate.
Sacred Texts
The Tripitaka- Canonical. Means the Three Baskets. Mahayana Sutras- Canonical. Reflect Mahayana concepts. The Tibetan Book of the Dead- Most well known in the West. Describes the stages of death from the Tibetan point of view. The Dhammapada- Canonical. Collection of Buddhist sayings and teachings One of the texts from the Special Teachings Basket in the Tripitaka. Each chapter adresses a different topic, e.g. mind.
The Buddhist Community
- Monks have 2 hour sessions of chanting and meditation at 4am.
- Vinaya- code of comduct for Buddhist monks
- Baikkus- Buddhist monks
- Archay- a monk who has achieved Nirvana
- Bodhisattva- a person who has unerstood enlightenment, but postpones Nirvana to help others achieve it.
- Varayana- the physical affects the spiritual and vice versa.
- Dalai Lama- the leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
- Meditation develops our mind and reveals peace and wisdom. Mantras are short phrases repeated to reveal enlightenment. E.g. Om Mani Mantra: Om Mani Padme Hum.
- Mandalas are circular designs that show various aspects of Buddhahood. The sand is brushed away as an aid to mindfulness about the impermanent nature of life: anicca.
