Founder
of Buddhism :
·
Siddhartha Gautama (He was called the Buddha and
lived in the 4th or 5th century B.C. in India)
Story
behind ~
o
He was born around
the year 580 BCE in the village of Lumbini in Nepal. The
son of an Indian warrior-king, Gautama led an extravagant life through early
adulthood, reveling in the privileges of his social caste. He was born
into a royal family and for many years lived with in the palace walls away from
the sufferings of life; sufferings such as sickness, age, and death. He did not
know what they were. He bored of the indulgences of
royal life, Gautama wandered into the world in search of understanding. After
encountering an old man, an ill man, a corpse and an ascetic, Gautama was
convinced that suffering lay at the end of all existence. He was worried
by what he saw. He learned that sickness, age, and death were the inevitable
fate of human beings — a fate no-one could avoid. Siddhartha
had also seen a monk, and he decided this was a sign that he should leave his
protected royal life and live as a homeless Holy Man. He
renounced his princely title and became a monk, depriving himself of worldly
possessions in the hope of comprehending the truth of the world around him. The
culmination of his search came while meditating beneath a tree, where he
finally understood how to be free from suffering, and ultimately, to achieve
salvation. Following this epiphany, Gautama was known as the Buddha, meaning
the "Enlightened One." The Buddha spent the remainder of his life
journeying about India, teaching others what he had come to understand.
There
Different Types of Buddhism:
1. 南傳佛教(Therevada
Buddhism) - Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Burma (Myanmar)
2. 北傳佛教/大乘佛法(Mahayana
Buddhism) - China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan
3. 藏傳佛教/金剛乘教法(Vajrayana
Buddhism) - Tibet and Mongolia
3a)
宁玛派（紅教）3b) 萨迦派（花教）3c) 噶当派
（白教）3d) 噶举派、格鲁派（黃教）
1) Theravada Buddhism
o Theravada ("Way of the
Elders") is a branch of the Indian Sthaviravada Buddhist school that was
established in Sri Lanka in the third century B.C.E. Although the school died
out in India, Theravada became the most popular form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka
by the eleventh century, and by the twelfth century, it was the dominant form
in Southeast Asia. Although Theravada is sometimes used to replace the
pejorative term Hinayana, in actuality Theravada Buddhism is the last remaining
school of the twenty or so early Indian non-Mahayana schools of Buddhism to
survive and is not an adequate substitute. Theravada practice focuses primarily
on meditation and concentration, and it is centered on monastic life, which is
thought to be a superior way of achieving liberation than the life of a layman.
Theravada stresses worship of the three jewels (triratna): the Shakyamuni
Buddha, the monastic community (sangha), and the Buddhist doctrine (dharma).
The highest ideal is that of the arhat, the monk who attains enlightenment by
meticulously following the teachings of the Buddha.
o Mahayana ("Great
Vehicle") is a term used by proponents of texts that began to appear
roughly four centuries after the death of the Buddha. The texts were regarded
as the word of the Buddha. Mahayana has come to mean by extension those forms
of Buddhism (today located for the most part in Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan)
that base their practice on these texts. Although once believed to be much
later than Hinayana (foundational) Buddhism, Mahayana co-existed with it at a
very early time. The bodhisattva is the ideal in Mahayana Buddhism.
Bodhisattvas are beings who are able to escape the endless cycle of birth,
death, and rebirth known as samsara but choose to remain active in the world to
help others along the path to enlightenment. According to the Mahayana,
followers of foundational Buddhism selfishly pursued only their own personal
salvation rather than following what Mahayanists believe to be the superior
path of the bodhisattva, the all-compassionate hero who, resolving to become a
Buddha in some far-distant future, dedicates countless lives to saving all
beings. Mahayana Buddhism postulates an expanded pantheon that includes
innumerable bodhisattvas and multiple buddhas.
o The Vajrayana ("Diamond
Vehicle," "Thunderbolt Vehicle") form of Buddhism, also known as
Esoteric Buddhism or Tantric Buddhism, is the latest of three major forms of
Buddhism to have developed. Vajrayana Buddhism expands the pantheon even
further than Mahayana Buddhism and stresses the ability to attain
enlightenment, and thus liberation from the endless cycle of rebirth, in just
one lifetime. Some of the methods for achieving such a fast enlightenment
include esoteric practices that require extensive training on the part of the
aspirant and depend on teachings given directly from master to disciple.
Although Vajrayana Buddhism may have originated in India as early as the third
century C.E., it became more widely practiced only during the eighth and ninth
centuries. After the eighth century, Vajrayana Buddhism was not only strongly entrenched
in eastern India, it spread to Nepal and Tibet (which became a center for
Vajrayana Buddhism as well as the major storehouse of its literature),
flourished briefly in China, became highly influential in Japan, and would be
the basis for a famous monastic university in Indonesia.
Buddhist’s belief
1)
Karma
o
Karma is the law that
every cause has an effect, i.e., our actions have results. This simple law
explains a number of things: inequality in the world, why some are born
handicapped and some gifted, why some live only a short life. Karma underlines
the importance of all individuals being responsible for their past and present
actions. How can we test the karmic effect of our actions? The answer is summed
up by looking at (1) the intention behind the action, (2) effects of the action
on oneself, and (3) the effects on others.
2)
The Three Jewels
o
There are three Buddhist central beliefs. These
are known as the three jewels as they are felt to be so precious.
§
Belief in Buddha
§
Dharma - The teaching of Buddha
§
The Sangha - the Buddhist community made up of
ordinary people as well as the monks and nuns. The purpose is to help others
and by doing so to cease to become selfish and to move on the way towards
enlightenment.
3)
The Cycle of Rebirth
o
One important belief involves reincarnation: the
concept that one must go through many cycles of birth, living, and death. After
many such cycles, if a person releases their attachment to desire and the self,
they can attain Nirvana
- a state of liberation and freedom from suffering
4) The Three
Poisons of Buddhism
贪，是对欲望的执着；
嗔，是对于喜怒的偏执；
痴，是对于喜好的偏执;
The Three Poisons, also known as The Three
Fires, as taught by Buddha Sakyamuni are greed, hatred and delusion. The Pali
word nibbana, or the Sanskrit word nirvana means the blowing out of, or
extinguishing of a fire, like a candle flame can be blown out or extinguished.
This is especially true of when the fuel for a fire is gone or is no longer
present.
Greed
is the excessive desire for possessions. It is especially greedy to desire
wealth just for the sake of being wealthy. If you have a desire for possessions
and wealth you suffer from a form of clinging. This brings you happiness that
only fades. Then you look for something else to grasp and cling to. You
eventually find it and experience only fleeting happiness once more. The wheel
of samsara continues to turn.
During
this process of greedy clinging and grasping you may go through bouts of
anxiety, panic, depression or other. You may be frantic and then drained. You
may be one or the other, unable to lead a productive life. Your ego has total
control of you. Let go of the false construction of your ego.
Hatred
is intense dislike, hostility and aversion for others and things. You feel
someone has done you wrong in some way. You can't let go of the feeling. You'd
rather ruin everything in your life because this illusion has you in its grip.
Hatred is a blind rage that smolders or flares up without virtue. It rears
itself within your mind in a blind fashion. It causes you to speak and act in
non-virtuous ways.
Delusion
is a fixed false belief. It is very resistant to reason. Your ego attacks truth
with hopeless confrontation. Delusion is wrong view. It prevents you from
seeing and experiencing right view. Delusion is the false construct of your
ego. It is clinging and grasping in a way that covers up the truth of reality.
How
do you know when you have escaped or freed yourself from the three poisons? How
do you know when greed, hatred and delusion are absent in your life? You know
by the way that you handle the obstacles in your way, in your life. You know by
the way you experience the good things in life. You know by the way you feel
when you wake up in the morning and the way that you feel when you go to bed at
night. This way is a good way, a good feeling, a satisfied feeling.
When
you experience good things in life, and as a result get carried away to extreme
highs and then fall to extreme lows means you are not free of the three fires.
When you experience the bad things in life with grace, patience and kindness
you are on your way. You have transcended the difficult. You have survived and
understand. You know.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buddha Teaching
The Four Noble Truths
First Noble Truth - Dukkha: Suffering
exists:
o
The first truth is that life is suffering i.e.
life includes pain, getting old, disease, and ultimately death. We also endure
psychological suffering like loneliness frustration, boredom, fear,
embarrassment, disappointment and anger.
Second Noble Truth - Samudaya: There
is a cause for suffering.
o
The second truth is that suffering is caused by
craving and the needing to control things. It can take many forms: the desire
for fame; the desire to avoid unpleasant sensations, like fear, anger or jealousy.
Third Noble Truth - Nirodha: There
is an end to suffering.
o
The third truth is that suffering can be
overcome and happiness can be attained; that true happiness and contentment are
possible. lf let go of our craving and learn to live each day at a time (not
dwelling in the past or the imagined future) then we can become happy and free.
We then have more time and energy to help others. This is Nirvana.
Fourth Noble Truth - Magga: In order to end suffering, you must follow the Eightfold
Path.
o
The fourth truth is that the Noble 8-fold Path
is the path which leads to the end of suffering.
The Noble Eight-Fold Path
The Noble Eight-fold Path focuses the mind on
being fully aware of our thoughts and actions, and developing wisdom by
understanding the Four Noble Truths. It is the way Buddhists should live their
lives. The Buddha said that people should avoid extremes. They should not have
or do too much, but neither should they have or do too little. The 'Middle Way'
is the best.
The path to Enlightenment (nirvana) is through
the practice and development of wisdom, morality and meditation.
Three Qualities
|
Eightfold Path
|
Wisdom (panna)
|
Right
View (understanding)
|
|
Right
Thought
|
Morality (sila)
|
Right
Speech
|
|
Right
Action
|
|
Right
Livelihood
|
Meditation (samadhi)
|
Right
Effort
|
|
Right
Mindfulness
|
|
Right
Contemplation (concentration)
|
Five percepts
The Five percepts constitute the basic Buddhist code of
ethics, undertaken by lay followers of the Buddha Gautama in the Theravada as
well as in Mahayana traditions. These are rules to live by. The main five are:
• Do not take the life of anything living. (Do not kill)
• Do not take anything not freely given. (Do not steal)
• Abstain from sexual misconduct and sensual overindulgence.
• Refrain from untrue speech, (Do not lie)
