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Buddhist Teachings

Kamakura Buddha

Overview

•From Prince Siddhartha to the Buddha

•The Four Noble Truths•The Eight-Fold Path•The Three Jewels•The spread of Buddhism

The Dharma

•Buddhism is a non-theistic religion

•There is no personal god nor was Buddha a god or is worshipped

•Buddha was a man who attained enlightenment through meditation and showed the path to freedom

Anatta

•There is no immortal self•A human being is a energy process composed of momentary flashes

•All human beings are interconnected with the universe as energy processes

•Nothing in the world is solid

Reincarnation

•Unlike the Hindu, Buddhism does not believe in an eternal soul

•But the rebirth process is because one changing state of being sets another into motion—karma

•Personality is created moment by moment

Vow of the Bodhisattva

Beings are infinite in numbers, I vow to save them all;

The obstructive passions are endless in number, I vow to end them all;

The teachings for saving others are countless, I vow to learn them all;

Buddhahood is the supreme achievement, I vow to attain it.

Prince Siddhartha

Who Became A Buddha…

The Four

Sights

Becoming a Renunciate

Seven years were spent in the forest practicing austerities and studying the wisdom of the times.

Becoming a BuddhaIn the year 528 B.C. Prince Siddhartha became a Buddha. He died at the age of 80 in the year 483 B.C. Five hundred monks met for seven months to put his words to memory in sacred chants.

Deer Park

The Four Noble Truths

1 - Life has pain & suffering

4 - The Eight-fold Path provides a way out of our karmic predicament of continuous re-births that result in continuous suffering

3 - Reducing desire reduces suffering

2 - Suffering is caused by ignorance & desire

The Eight Worldly Pre-Occupations

Praise

Blame

Pleasure Pain

Loss

Gain

Disgrace

Fame

The Eight-fold Path

Om Mani Padme Hum

(Purity…Jewel…Lotus…Indivisible)

Means something like…

If you practice the path with the complete union of compassion and wisdom, you can transform all impurities to become a Buddha.

The Two Truths: The Question of Inherent

Existence

Ultimate Wisdom

Conventional Wisdom

The Three Jewels

Buddha

Dharma Sangha

Spread of Buddhism

The Kali Yuga period…

•Our life-force is weak•Delusions & emotional sickness prevail

•Violence is rampant•False attitudes pretend to be trueAdvice: In a rotten society, the worst thing

would be to follow the social norm.

Hinayana, Mahayana & Vajrayana

Vajrayana is the use of subtle vital energies to transform the mind. The gross mind is neutralized and the subtle mind “rides” on the clear light of bliss. This inner light is considered the only aspect of existence that is eternal. Once uncovered, one is said to be capable of attaining Buddha-hood.

In the practice of rituals, the diamond sceptre (vajra) symbolizes method and the bell wisdom. With their unification the human being obtains the insight that all dualities derive from Relative Truth and that, in Absolute Truth, subject and object, internal and external world, nirvana and samsara are one and empty.

The Dalai Lama As a Tulku

Wood Valley Temple

Zen

Zen

Development of Zen

•Buddhism spread to China around the time of Christ

•It absorbed elements of the Tao

•Bodhidharma in 5th century first patriarch of Ch’an Buddhism - Zen

Qualities of Zen

•Dismisses all scriptures•Relies on direct experience towards cosmic unity

•Zazen – to sit and gain absolute freedom to not allow any thought to disturb your original nature

Sengtsan

The Great Way is not difficult for thos who have no preferences.

When love and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised.

6th Patriarch of Zen

Stages of The Path

Satori

“The moon is the same old moon, the flowers exactly as they were,

Yet I’ve become the thingness of all the things I see!”

Pure Land Buddhism

•Modern Japan – needed Amida Buddha to save them rather than save themselves

•Pure Land is similar idea to Christian heaven

Nichiren•13th century Japanese fisherman

•Lotus Sutra•Strive to save self and society

•“Namu myoho rengekyo”

“Civilization has nothing to do with having electric lights, airplanes, or manufacturing atomic bombs. It has nothing to do with killing human beings, destroying things or waging war. Civilization is to hold one another in mutual affection and respect.”

Considerations…

Buddhism in the West

•5 million Tibetan Buddhists in west

•Many vipassana retreats•Thich Nhat Hanh – Vietnamese monk is author of many books

Engaged Buddhism

“Not to respond to the suffering around us is a sign of an insane civilization.”

Dulak Sivaraksa, founder

The Heart Sutra of Profound Illimination

…noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, said… Form is emptiness; emptiness also is form. Emptiness is no other than form; form is no other than emptiness.

In the same way, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness are emptiness. Thus, …all dharmas are emptiness. There are no characteristics. There is no birth and no cessation. There is no impurity and no purity. There is no decrease and no increase.

…in emptiness, there is no form, no feeling, no perception, no formation, no consciousness…… no ignorance, no end of ignorance up to no old age and death, no end of old age and death; no suffering, no origin of suffering, no cessation of suffering, no path, no wisdom, no attainment, and no non-attainment.

Summary•You are the source of suffering &

liberation•A soft heart & quiet mind can see the

truth• Ignorance is a mistake in identity•Truth sees the mistake & eliminates

suffering•Compassion & wisdom are the tools•Vow of the Bodhisattva