Buddhism
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Today we are going to talk about a religion that claims to have about 300-400 million followers.
Today we are talking about Buddhism.
Who founded Buddhism?
Siddhartha Gautama.
He was a Hindu prince of India during the 6th (~500 BC) century BC.
According to Buddhist traditions he lived a very lavish and sheltered life. His father shrouded him in comfort from an early age and prevented him from seeing any form of suffering or discomfort.
It was not until he grew up that he witnessed the suffering of people such as disease and death.
He would later be known by the name Sakyamuni which means Sage of Saky clan.
What other popular name would he later claim?
The Buddha.
What does Buddha mean?
Enlightened One.
Siddhartha did marry Yashodhara and they had one son named Rāhula. The day that Siddhartha’s son Rāhula was born is the day when he forsook the lavish life of the palace and abandoned the throne in the search for spiritual enlightenment.
Note this as we will come back to this incident later, as I think it does have some importance.
Siddhartha sought to find a meaning to human suffering and the solution. He tried a number of techniques in his efforts, including asceticism (bodily deprivation).
Does anyone know where he came to enlightenment?
While meditating under a Bodhi-tree.
A Bodhi-tree is a small fig tree in India, which is considered sacred.
It could be noted that buddhism is considered a ‘Yogic’ religion along with others such as hinduism. Since much of the purpose of yoga is meditating on inner self and disconnecting from your surroundings. More or less to achieve a feeling.
It was under this Bodhi-tree that Siddhartha became “enlightened”.
It was here that he realized four important truths.
How old was buddha when he became “enlightened”?
35 years old.
6 years after he abandoned his family and the palace.
New Dictionary of Theology: Historical and Systematic Buddhism and Christianity
Suffering (dukkha), a reality for all sentient beings, is unhappiness, a lack of satisfaction due to the changing nature of existence.
• The cause of suffering is our craving and thirst (tanha).
• Suffering can be reduced and eradicated by stopping our craving and striving.
• The way leading to the cessation of suffering, or enlightenment, nirvana, is following the Middle Way, also known as the Eight-Fold Path.
I’m not going to harp on this much as we do this ourselves in many things in life.
But, don’t you just love how within this four step realization there is a another eight?
What is the eightfold path?
[insert photo]
New Dictionary of Theology Buddhism and Christianity
A person can break this cycle of rebirths by realizing that the essence of all things, including the soul, is emptiness. The great doctrine of Buddhism is anatta, ‘no soul’.
New Dictionary of Theology Buddhism and Christianity
In Buddhism, there is no soul. Rather, a consciousness is reborn and needs to be extinguished just as a candle flame is blown out.
Does anyone know the ultimate goal of a Buddhist?
To not reincarnate.
How does one not reincarnate?
Becoming enlightened.
New Dictionary of Theology Buddhism and Christianity
Though the Buddhist doctrine of extinction may seem nihilistic to Christians, living a pure life to end a cycle of lives full of suffering is understood to be idealistic rather than fatalistic.
Nihilistic: rejecting all religious and moral principles in the belief that life is meaningless.
There are two distinct branches we must discuss when talking about Buddhism.
Theravada
A branch of Buddhism predominant in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Laos. Historically, the level of personal commitment and sacrifice required to achieve “nirvana” (or “nibbana”) is very high in this branch of Buddhism. Therefore, the emphasis is on orders of monks and nuns who are the primary practitioners of Buddhism. Monasteries with large monk populations are more common in this branch of Buddhism. Burma (Myanmar), for example, has 500,000 monks.
Mahayana
A branch of Buddhism predominant in Sri Lanka, Japan, Taiwan, China, Korea, Vietnam and Tibet. In this form of Buddhism, the practice of the faith and achievement of “nirvana” is available to everyone, including the common person. Tibetan Buddhism (led by the Dalai Lama) is sometimes considered a separate school but often included under Mahayana Buddhism. Other well-known Mahayana sects include Zen and Nichiren Buddhism (Japan). Nichiren is distinctly “evangelical” seeking to put down other beliefs and win converts.
Lets take a step back and ask three basic questions regarding most worldviews.
Every worldview has to answer three important questions:
How did we get here?
How did everything get so messed up?
How can we fix it?
Buddhism cannot really answer the first one as they have no belief in a god or divine being that created anything. Thus in some sense they would probably defer to something like evolution.
Buddhism does offer an answer to the Four Noble Truths.
Suffering is the result of our cravings/desires.
Buddhism teaches our desires lead us to become “attached” to the very things eventually causing us to suffer. In this regard, “attachment” is at the root of the problem. As we learn to let go of the things to which we are attached (including such base cravings as thirst, hunger and sexual desire), we will be free of the suffering we experience in this life.
In addition to this, many Buddhists also blame “karma” for any bad luck or difficult situation they may experience in their lives. As an example, a Buddhist might believe he or she is short as the result of making fun of short people in a prior existence.
So how do we fix it according to Buddhism?
By following the eightfold path and achieving nirvana.
It is the self work of the buddhist to practice the eightfold path and achieve nirvana.
The eightfold path can be broken down into three parts:
Wisdom
Ethics
Concentration
Lets take a look at what relates to wisdom:
Right View:
The buddhist understands this as perspective, vision, or understanding about how the real world works. This includes the reality of karma and suffering.
Right Intention:
This is concerned with one’s resolve, aspirations, or will. It is the need for one to rid themselves of any desire to do anything harmful or immoral.
Related to Ethics:
Right Speech:
This is concerned about one’s speech in which it serves as a reminder to choose one’s words carefully. It prohibits lying, speaking abusively, and profane/harsh language.
Right Action:
This is concerned with ones actions towards themselves and others. A person must be morally upright and not do anything to harm or corrupt others.
Right Livelyhood:
This one prohibits a person from being employed in an occupation which would harm any living being whether directly or indirectly.
Related to Concentration.
Right Effort:
This serves to remind one to continually rid themselves of all thoughts, words, or actions that would be harmful to themselves or others.
Right Mindfulness:
Buddhists are called to stay alert mentally; remaining constantly on guard to those influences in their world affecting their body and mind. This aspect of the Path calls the believer to be ever mindful and deliberate about saying and doing what is morally right.
Right Concentration:
Finally, the Path calls the Buddhist to engage in the practice of proper concentration, accomplished through meditation, in order to enter into what is known as “jhana” (a state of consciousness that allows the believer to develop wisdom and insight into the true nature of the world around them).
The goal of the Eight Fold Path is to understand the nature of life, better comprehend the Four Noble Truths, and to eventually extinguish our “self” and our cravings (good or bad) so we can ultimately achieve “nirvana” (the state of nothingness, non-consciousness or “bliss”). The Eightfold Path is sometimes called the “Middle Way” since it is neither extreme asceticism nor a life of indulgence. But in all of these elements of the Eight Fold Path, it is clear the individual believer is charged with responsibility for his or her own spiritual growth or development.
Who is the god of buddhism?
Self.
New Dictionary of Theology Buddhism and Christianity
The Western church has spawned self-help workshops, seminars on self-improvement and success, and a focus on happiness and wealth, which confuse the message of the gospel to many Asians who see little difference between the affluence of the Western church and their own detachment from suffering. If Christians want to share the good news of Jesus Christ, they must enter into what he did, not into suffering for the sake of suffering, but into suffering for the sake of righteousness and truth, and for the sake of others. Jesus stood up for the oppressed, for the social outcasts, and was consequently rejected himself. What Jesus did—dying on the cross, suffering for others—is unique, but Christian materialism and self-centredness often mask his uniqueness.
New Dictionary of Theology Buddhism and Christianity
When Jesus Christ is shared with Buddhists, his sacrifice as well as his resurrection must be emphasized and contrasted with the Buddhist teachings on detachment and emptiness. Others must see that Christians are willing to suffer for others, just as Jesus suffered for others. Such a testimony to cultural and Western Buddhists would be unique and powerful.
What is karma?
Karma is the cause and effect of certain actions and decisions. Consequences whether they are positive or negative.
Under a karmic worldview, one’s suffering is considered a justice as a result of bad deeds in a prior life.
If the suffering of a person is what they deserve for their deeds, why then should someone help them?
To help such a one in the karmic worldview would be to stand in the way of karmic justice.
The Buddha himself, when approached for help, told his followers that suffering was a brute fact of life and that the only hope was to not to solve external problems, but to rid oneself of all want (and thus alleviate the experience of suffering in one’s own mind).
The result is that karma is supposed to demotivate one to help others.
This is contrary to the what Jesus said in Matthew 25:40
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.