A basic to Buddhism - path to Enlightenment



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.

2)     Mahayana Buddhism
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.

3)     Vajrayana Buddhism
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.

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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)
•           Do not consume alcohol or other drugs. The main concern here is that intoxicants cloud the mind.

 http://www.asiasocietymuseum.org/buddhist_trade/glossary.html
http://www.noble-buddhism-beliefs.com/three-poisons.html
http://www.chiddingstone.kent.sch.uk/homework/religion/buddhism.htm
http://www.pbs.org/edens/thailand/buddhism.htm




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