Intro To Buddhism Midterm 1

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Buddha

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"awakened one" or "the enlightened one"

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Sakyamuni

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one of the titles of the Buddha, deriving from the name of Sakya where he was born

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Tathagata

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a word the Buddha uses when referring to himself. The term is often thought to mean either "one who has thus gone" or "one who has thus come". This is interpreted as signifying that the Tathāgata is beyond all coming and going– beyond all transitory phenomena. There are, however, other interpretations and the precise original meaning of the word is not certain

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King Śuddhodana

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father of Gautama Buddha. He was a leader of the Shakya people, who lived in Kapilavastu and was a righteous king.

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Queen Maya

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birth mother of Gautama Buddha, the sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded, and the sister of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, the first Buddhist nun ordained by the Buddha.

In Buddhist tradition Maya died soon after the birth of Buddha, generally said to be seven days afterwards, and came to life again in a Buddhist heaven, a pattern that is said to be followed in the births of all Buddhas. Thus Maya did not raise her son who was instead raised by his maternal aunt Mahapajapati Gotami. Maya would, however, on occasion descend from Heaven to give advice to her son.

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Rahula

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only son of Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha, and his wife Princess Yasodharā.

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Mahapajapati

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the first woman to request ordination from the Buddha and to join the Saṅgha. Mayadevi and Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī were Koliyan Princess and sisters of Suprabuddha. Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī was both the Buddha's maternal aunt and adoptive mother, raising him after her sister, Queen Maya, the Buddha's birth mother, died. Mahapajapati Gotami died at the age of 120.

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Yasodhara

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the wife of Siddhārtha Gautama

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Asoka

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Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over a realm that stretched from the Hindu Kush mountains in the west to Bengal in the East and covered the entire Indian subcontinent except parts of present day Tamil Nadu and Kerala

He embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. "Ashoka reflected on the war in Kalinga, which reportedly had resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations." Ashoka converted gradually to Buddhism beginning about 263 BCE. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia, and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. "Ashoka regarded Buddhism as a doctrine that could serve as a cultural foundation for political unity." Ashoka is now remembered as a philanthropic administrator. In the Kalinga edicts, he addresses his people as his "children", and mentions that as a father he desires their good.

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Dharma, Dhamma

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the teachings of the Buddha, commonly known throughout the East as Buddha-Dharma. It includes especially the discourses on the fundamental principles (such as the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path), as opposed to the parables and to the poems

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Karma

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the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences

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Dukkha

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"suffering", "anxiety", "stress", or "unsatisfactoriness"

The principle of dukkha is one of the most important concepts in the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha is reputed to have said: "I have taught one thing and one thing only, dukkha and the cessation of dukkha." The classic formulation of these teachings on dukkha is the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths.

The obvious physical and mental suffering associated with birth, growing old, illness and dying.The anxiety or stress of trying to hold on to things that are constantly changing. A basic unsatisfactoriness pervading all forms of existence, because all forms of life are changing, impermanent and without any inner core or substance.

To give but one example. In the past there was a high rate of infant mortality. This problem was solved by better nutrition and health care and now the wellbeing of humanity is threatened by a burgeoning population. This would be an example of what the Buddha called dukkha. Birth results in death, satisfaction leads to boredom, the solution to one problem contains within it the seeds of a new problem.

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Anicca

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Impermanence is one of the essential doctrines or three marks of existence in Buddhism. The term expresses the Buddhist notion that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is transient, or in a constant state of flux. The mutability of life, that time passes on no matter what happens, is an important aspect of impermanence.

According to the impermanence doctrine, human life embodies this flux in the aging process, the cycle of birth and rebirth (samsara), and in any experience of loss. The doctrine further asserts that because things are impermanent, attachment to them is futile, and leads to suffering (dukkha). Under the impermanence doctrine, all compounded and constructed things and states are impermanent.Buddhists hold that the only true end of impermanence is nibbana, the reality that knows no change, decay or death.Impermanence is intimately associated with the doctrine of anatta, according to which things have no fixed nature, essence, or self.

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Anatta

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the perception of "not-self", recommended as one of the seven beneficial perceptions, which along with the perception of dukkha, and anicca, is also formally classified among the three marks of existence.

The Buddha taught that when the idea of a permanent metaphysical self or soul is seen to be an illusion, then one will cease to suffer and also cease to inflict suffering on others.

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Atman

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permanent "Self", although mostly referring to an Absolute and not to a personal self

the eternal core of personality that survives after death and that transmigrates to a new life or is released from the bonds of existence

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Brahman

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non-eternal demigod, Brahma or Brahman is believed by scholars to refer to the eternal perfect being, and the highest stage any person can achieve is labelled as Brahma

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Conditioned arising

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if this exist, that exist; if this ceases to exist, that also ceases to exist

twelve links of dependent origination, which describes the chain of causes which result in rebirth. by reverting the chain, liberation from rebirth can be attained

the Buddhist concept that (1) nothing is ‘a thing in itself’ but is dependent for its existence on other things and (2) that things come into being due to natural causation, not randomly or by the will of a supreme being. To give an example of the first of these concepts - we speak of ‘a flower’ but if, one by one, we remove the stem, the petals, the nectar, the stamens, the pistils, etc, none of which are the flower itself, we find that the ‘flower’ has gone. A flower is a convenient term for the sum total of its parts and each part is again the sum total of its parts too. This is true of cities, books, computers, rocks and people. Thus according to the Buddha, there is no permanent metaphysical self, soul or essence. Realizing this frees us from craving for life and terror of death and all the negative emotions and actions that go with them. Understanding the second of these concepts requires us to look within rather without for the solution to the problem of individual and social conflict.

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Arahant/Arahat

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‘worthy’ or ‘noble’ and is a title given to someone who has attained enlightenment as a result of listening to and practising the teachings of a Buddha

Like a Buddha, an arahant has perfected wisdom and compassion and is no longer subject to rebirth

Attaining to the level of full enlightenment is not to be taken lightly or as something easily attainable. It can take several decades of devoted practice and will more likely take several lifetimes to perfect the Paramitas, the Jhanas, and other advanced states.

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Enlightenment

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'to wake up,' or 'to open the eyes.' When, as a result of practicing the Buddha's Dhamma, one deeply, fully and directly realizes the impermanent, inadequate and selfless nature of conditioned phenomenon one is said to have become or to have attained enlightenment. Quite automatically, this realization brings about a radical change in one’s experience and one’s behaviour. Frustration, anxiety and fear are replaced by peace and joy. A person who is enlightened is called either a Buddha or an arahant. The state itself is also often called Nibbana.

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Jataka

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Jataka means ‘about birth’ and is the name of a book from the Tipitaka, the sacred scriptures of Buddhism. The Jàtaka consists of 547 stories, some quite brief, others very long, illustrating Buddhist virtues like kindness, prudence, honesty, self-sacrifice, common sense, courage and determination. The characters in many of the stories are animals. The early Buddhists culled these stories from the great store of Indian folklore and fables and ‘Buddhistized’ them by saying that the hero of each story was actually the Buddha in one of his former lives as a bodhisattva. The Jàtaka consists of four parts. Preceding all the stories is a long introduction. Each story is prefaced by a ‘story of the present, giving the reasons why the Buddha told the story, and ends with a ‘connection’ in which the characters in the story are identified. The stories themselves are in prose and imbedded within them are verses, of which there are about 2500 altogether. Only these verses are considered the actual words of the Buddha. With their lively plots, well-defined characters and flashes of humour, the Jàtaka has long been the most popular book in the scriptures. Scholars believe that some of the fables of Aesop and many other collections of folklore have their origins in the Jàtaka.

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Vessantara

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one of the most popular avadānas of Theravada Buddhism. The Vessantara Jataka tells the story of one of Buddha's past lives, about a compassionate prince, Vessantara, who gives away everything he owns, including his children, thereby displaying the virtue of perfect charity. It is also known as the Great Birth Sermon.

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Mara

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In theistic religions the Devil, sometimes also known as Satan or Beelzebub, is a being completely opposed to God and to goodness. According to the Tipitaka, the Buddha was approached on several occasions by a spirit named Mara who tried to stop him from continuing his struggles for enlightenment, to tempt him and to encourage him to die.

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Tipitaka/Tripitaka

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the name given to the Buddhist sacred scriptures and is made up of two words; ti meaning ‘three’ and pitaka meaning ‘basket.’ The word basket was given to these writings because they were orally transmitted for some centuries (from about 483 BCE), the way a basket of earth at a construction site might be relayed from the head of one worker to another. It was written on palm leaves in the Pali language around 100 BCE. The three parts of the Tipitaka are the Sutta Pitaka, the Vinaya Pitakaand the Abhidhamma Pitaka. The Tipitaka was composed in the Pali language and takes up more than forty volumes in an English translation, roughly about 20,000 pages. It is the largest sacred book of any of the great world religions.

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Theravada

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the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It is relatively conservative, and generally closest to early Buddhism, and for many centuries has been the predominant religion of Sri Lanka (about 70% of the population) and most of continental Southeast Asia

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Dhammapada

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The Dhammapada is one of the smallest books in the Khuddaka Nikaya, the fifth part of the Sutta Pitaka, which is the first division of the Tipitaka, the sacred scriptures of Buddhism. The name Dhammapada means ‘Words of Dhamma’ and this work consists of 423 verses arranged into twenty six chapters. The verses deal with a range of subjects, such as simplicity, evil, honesty, death, happiness, the monk’s life, virtue and liberation. Because of its convenient size and the inspiring way it deals with the Buddha’s teaching, the Dhammapada is the most widely read and loved of all Buddhist scriptures.

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Ignorance

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Ignorance is the absence of information or knowledge about something, causing a misapprehension of it or a lack of awareness of it. According to the Buddha, ignorance is one of the two causes of suffering, the other being craving. When we are unaware of why we are suffering or even that we are suffering, we are unable to even begin the process of freeing ourselves from it. On the other hand, we might be intensely aware of the incompleteness and unsatisfactoriness of conditioned existence but mistakenly believe that the solution to the problem is to pray to a deity or try to be reborn in heaven. Once again, this will only prolong the problem. It is only when we begin to see with wisdom the true nature of suffering and its causes that freedom becomes a possibility.

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Desire

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self-centered type of desire that is based in ignorance. This type of desire is contrasted to wholesome types of desire such as the desire to benefit others or to follow the Buddhist path. In the first teaching of the Buddha on the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha identified taṇhā as a principal cause in the arising of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction). Taṇhāis also identified as the eighth link in the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination.

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Anger, Hatred

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Anger (kodha) is the feeling of negativity experienced when one’s desires are frustrated. The Buddha said that because of anger’s ability to churn up the mind anger is one of the most destructive of all human emotions. Buddhist psychology recognises numerous expressions and intensities of anger – mild irritation, annoyance, bad temperedness, exasperation, resentment, umbrage, fury etc, and offers a wide variety of techniques to deal with it. It is of course, necessary to hold anger in check but beyond that one has to deal with its roots. There is a strong relationship between anger and desire – the stronger our desire, the angrier we get when that desire is frustrated. Thus, the first step in coming to terms with anger is modifying desires. Anger will, however, only be completely eliminated when the ego or sense of self is understood.

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Sangha

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The Pali word sangha means ‘group’ or ‘congregation’ and is the name given to the body of the Buddha’s disciples. The Buddha mentions two sanghas; the monastic sangha and the noble sangha. The monastic sangha is of course the congregation of properly ordained monks and nuns. The noble sangha is composed of all those who have attained the first stage of enlightenment or higher. However, in the broadest sense the saïgha is anyone, ordained or not, enlightened or not, who is fully committed to the Buddha’s teachings.

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Bodhi tree

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Bodhi, a Pali word meaning ‘awaken,’ is the name given to the individual tree growing at Bodh Gaya which the Buddha was sitting under when he became enlightened.In the several accounts of the Buddha’s enlightenment in the Tipitaka, the Bodhi Tree is only mentioned once. Tradition says that after his enlightenment the Buddha sat for seven days gazing at the Bodhi Tree out of gratitude for the shelter it had given him and modern Buddhists still revere this species of tree for the same reason. The present Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya was planted in 1880 and is a distant ancestor of the original one.

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Bodh Gaya

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a small town about 12 kilometres from the city of Gaya in the northern Indian state of Bihar where the Buddha attained enlightenment. The name itself is a contraction of Buddha Gaya and only came into use during the 18th century. At the time of the Buddhathe place was known as Uruvelà. The town of Bodh Gaya has grown up around the huge Mahabodhi Temple re-built in the 5th century over the very place where the Buddha sat when he became enlightened. Many Buddhist countries and organisations have built temples and monasteries at Bodh Gaya and thousands of pilgrims visit the town every year.

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Lumbini

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Lumbini was a nature reserve where Siddhartha Gotama, who later became the Buddha, was born. It is located in present day Nepal. Maya was on her way to Devadaha to have her baby when the birth pangs began and the child was born in Lumbini instead. In later centuries Lumbini became an important centre of pilgrimage and remained so until at least the beginning of the 14th century.

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Sarnath

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a small village on the outer edge of the city of Vàrànasi in northern India and is the place where the Buddha first proclaimed his Dhamma to the world.

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Kusinara, Kusinagari

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main town of a tribe of people called the Mallas. During the Buddha’s last journey, he arrived on the outskirts of Kusinara, lay down between two sal trees and passed away the next day. For centuries Kusinara was a center of pilgrimage and there were two stupas there, one marking the place where the Buddha passed away and another marking where the cremation of his body had taken place

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Four castes

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priests, warriors, merchants and labourers

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Sati, mindfulness

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awareness or mindfulness,

is one of the 5 spiritual abilities and powers

one of the 7 factors of enlightenment bojjhanga, and the 7th link of the 8-fold path magga, and is, in its widest sense, one of those mental properties inseparably associated with all consciousness

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Sila

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'morality', 'virtue',

is a mode of mind and intention manifested in speech or bodily action. It is the foundation of the whole Buddhist practice, and therewith the first of the 3 kinds of training that form the 3-fold division of the 8-fold path i.e. morality, concentration and understanding.

a code of conduct that embraces a commitment to harmony and self-restraint with the principle motivation being non-violence, or freedom from causing harm. It has been variously described as virtue,[1] right conduct,[2]morality,[3] moral discipline[4] and precept.Sīla is an internal, aware, and intentional ethical behavior, according to one's commitment to the path of liberation

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Samadhi

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attained by the practice of dhyāna.

In samadhi the mind becomes still, one-pointed or concentrated while individual awareness remains present. When someone dies in India, it is not uncommon to say, that person has gone to 'Samadhi'. The tombstone area is also referred to as place of 'samadhi'

Concentration - though often very weak - is one of the 7 mental properties inseparably associated with all consciousness.

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Panna

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Wisdom; 'understanding, knowledge, understanding, insight', comprises a very wide field. The specific Buddhist knowledge or understanding, however, as part of The Noble Eightfold Middle Path magga to deliverance, is insight Vipassana, i.e. that intuitive knowledge which brings about the 4 stages of Nobility and the realization of Nibbana and which consists in the penetration of the impermanency anicca, misery dukkha and impersonality anattā of all forms of existence. With regard to the condition of its arising one distinguishes 3 kinds of knowledge: knowledge based on thinking, knowledge based on learning, knowledge based on mental development;

'Based on thinking' is that knowledge which one has accquired through one's own thinking, without having learnt it from others.

'Based on learning' is that knowledge which one has heard from others and thus acquired through learning.

'Based on mental development' is that knowledge which one has acquired through mental development in this or that way, and which has reached the stage of full concentration; Wisdom is one of the 5 mental abilities, one of the 3 kinds of training, and one of the perfections

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Jhana, Dhyana

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altered states of consciousness which are produced from periods of strong concentration. Although not enlightenment experiences, they do provide much needed experience into the Path and explain much of the cosmology in an experiential way.

To reach the jhanic states of the four jhanas and the five immaterial, formless realms, one must choose a meditation subject and use one-pointedness concentration. The subject can be a devotional statue, a colored disc, or simply your breath. As opposed to insight meditation or vipassana, in this meditation you focus all your attention on your subject. The background views and noises must remain only part of the background. You concentrate on your subject with eyes sometimes open and then closed. When your eyes are closed, look for the after-image of your meditation subject in your mind. Eventually you will reach a high state of concentration with all of the five hindrances gone from your mind.

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Vipassana

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Insight. Insight meditation, the procedure for seeing Reality, attaining wisdom, calming and purifying the mind, and attaining enlightenment.There are actually two types of meditation as taught by the Buddha. They are samatha, which is the calm, tranquil technique and then there is vipassana, which is the type leading to Insight. Most meditation techniques in the Buddha’s time and before and even still today are primarily the samatha type. That is, they lead to a relaxed peaceful state and sometimes to great experiences of joy, bliss, even trance, but no ultimate Insight of enlightenment. Concentration primarily deals with the samatha type of meditation which is aimed at these highly concentrative states. But vipassana meditation, when done correctly, can provide the inner calm of samatha and also can lead to the Insight wisdom of vipassana. Concentration meditation techniques include many different meditation subjects. There are 40 different meditation subjects of samatha and four major techniques or foundations for vipassana. It can be direct one-pointedness concentration on a devotional figure. The common subject for beginners is awareness of breath. The meditator remains in the present moment focusing on the in and out breath of the body. The mind and body become calm and free of negative thoughts.

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Samsara

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Samsara is a Pali word literally meaning ‘perpetual wandering’ and refers to the continual process of rebirth - of being born, dying and being reborn again. This restless, tiresome process will continue until and unless Nibbana is attained and this is the whole purpose of Buddhism.

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Realms of rebirth

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Some non-Buddhist traditions believe that when one goes through the process of rebirth that there is a permanent self (i.e. a soul or atman) that is reborn. In the Buddhist view, there is not a permanent, instrinsically existing soul or atman. In the Buddhist view, there is a transfer of consciousness from one life to the next, but this consciousness is a continuum (e.g. a continually evolving stream of consciousness) rather than a permanent entity. One example used to explain this transfer of consciousness from one life to the next is that it is "Like a billiard ball hitting another billiard ball. While nothing physical transfers, the speed and direction of the second ball relate directly to the first." Thus, the previous life has a direct impact on the next life.

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Sense desire realm

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Bhavacakra

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symbolic representation of samsara (or cyclic existence) found on the outside walls of Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries in the Indo-Tibetan region. In the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, it is believed that the drawing was designed by the Buddha himself in order to help ordinary people understand the Buddhist teachings.The bhavacakra is popularly referred to as the wheel of life. This term is also translated as wheel of cyclic existence or wheel of becoming.

The images in the hub of the wheel represent the three poisons of ignorance, attachment and aversion. The second layer represents karma. The third layer represents the six realms of samsara. The fourth layer represents the twelve links of dependent origination. The fierce figure holding the wheel represents impermanence. The moon above the wheel represents liberation from samsara or cyclic existence. The Buddha pointing to the moon indicates that liberation is possible.

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Samanas

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Contemplative. Literally, a person who abandons the conventional obligations of social life in order to find a way of life more "in tune" with the ways of nature.

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Jainism

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a religion founded a few decades before the Buddha’s enlightenmen. Although Mahàvãra and the Buddha often talked to or debated with each other’s disciples, they never met directly. Jainism and Buddhism have much in common and it is clear that the Buddha was influenced to some degree by this gentle ascetic faith. However, Mahàvãra taught that any act, intentional or not, creates karma, whereas the Buddha taught that only intentional actions have a karmic effect. From this difference between the two religions many others follow. The Buddha was critical of both Jain doctrines and of the self-mortification practised by Jain ascetics. For several centuries the two religions vied with each other for supremacy, but eventually Buddhism won and Jainism ever after remained a minor religion.

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Materialists

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the belief that matter is the only reality in life and everything else, such as mind, feelings, emotions, beauty etc are just the by-products of the brain's physical and chemical activity, with no independent existence of their own. Once their material basis is gone, mind and consciousness just disappear without trace.

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Upanishads

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are a collection of texts in the Vedic Sanskrit language which contain the earliest emergence of some of the central religious concepts of Hinduism, some of which are shared with Buddhism and Jainism. The Upanishads are considered by Hindus to contain revealed truths concerning the nature of ultimate reality (brahman) and describing the character and form of human salvation. The Upanishads are sometimes referred to as Vedanta, variously interpreted to mean either the "last chapters, parts of the Veda" or "the object, the highest purpose of the Veda". The concepts of Brahman (Ultimate Reality) and Ātman (Soul, Self) are central ideas in all the Upanishads, and "Know your Ātman" their thematic focus. The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse traditions. Of the Vedic corpus, they alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishads are at the spiritual core of Hindus.

More than 200 Upanishads are known, of which the first dozen or so are the oldest and most important and are referred to as the principal or main (mukhya) Upanishads. The mukhya Upanishads are found mostly in the concluding part of the Brahmanas and Aranyakas and were, for centuries, memorized by each generation and passed down verbally. The early Upanishads all predate the Common Era, some in all likelihood pre-Buddhist (6th century BCE), down to the Maurya period.

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Vedas

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The Vedas are the most ancient and most important of all Hindu sacred literature. There are four Vedas, although only three are mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures. Rig Veda is oldest and first Veda text. The Vedas are believed by Hindus to be an eternal revelation of divine origin. Those who deny the authority of the Vedas are said to be 'impure'. The Buddha said that nothing is eternal, he considered revelation to be an unreliable means of knowledge and he rejected the idea of a supreme god as unconvincing. He also cast serious doubts on the claim that the authors of the Vedas had divine knowledge. Once a brahman asked him what he thought of the belief that the authors of the Vedas had direct experience of the divine. The Buddha replied, 'What do you think about this? Is there one brahman who says, “I know. I see. This alone is true, all else is false?”

The Buddha also rejected the practice of animal sacrifices, the efficacy of rituals and the caste system, all of which are legitimized by the Vedas.

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Asceticism

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a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals.

advocate restraint with respect to actions of body, speech, and mind. These religions teach that a deeper level of satisfaction and fulfillment is to be found than that offered by sensual pleasures and therefore promote the value of abstaining from these common, ordinary pleasures in the pursuit of acquiring deep inner peace

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Bhikkhu, bhikkhuni

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A bhikkhu (monk) is a man who has renounced ordinary society to live a celibate monastic life. The Buddha founded an order of monks and nuns called the Sangha, to provide the optimal environment to practice the Dhamma and also to have a body of specialists who could transmit that Dhamma. Monks are expected to have eight simple requisites and to live by the 227 rules of the Vinaya. Someone can become a novice while still a boy but must be twenty years old or over to be a fully ordained monk. If he loses interest in the monastic life, a monk can leave at any time. The most characteristic features of Buddhists monks are their yellow robes, their shaven heads and their calm, smiling demeanor.

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Vinaya

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The Vinaya is the Discipline and lists the rules for the monks and nuns.There are 227 total precepts for monks and 311 for nuns. The added rules for nuns were for the protection of the nuns and for some of the biological differences. Rules or precepts that appear to place the nuns in a less than equal rank to the monks were probably written in later times by male dominated cultures. The most important precepts are the ten Precepts. The 227 and 311 are mostly an elaboration and further clarification of the ten Precepts. Today fully ordained women nuns share full equal ranking with the monks. The 227 and 311 precepts are organized into four incurable offenses which require expulsion from the Order, 13 very serious offenses, and the rest are minor offenses, wrong actions, and minor rules. The four incurable offenses are: intentional sexual intercourse of any kind, murder, theft, and boasting of spiritual attainments which one does not really have. Most of the rules are minor instructions, such as the maximum size of living quarters, the type of robe that is allowed for wearing, etc.

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Patimokkha

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The Patimokkha forms the core of the Vinaya Pitaka, the second division in the Tipitaka, which contains the rules Buddhist monks and nuns must live by.The meaning of the word pàtimokkha is unclear but it may mean something like ‘obligation’ or ‘binding promise.’ The original Pàtimokkha was a collection of aphorisms summarising the Buddha’s teachings but gradually this evolved into a code of behaviour; with 227 rules for monks and an extra 84 rules for nuns. The rules are divided into eight parts according to the severity of the punishment they entail if infringed. The most important of these rules are the four Pàràjika, which entails expulsion from the monastic community if broken. They are (1) having sexual intercourse, (2) theft, (3) murder and (4) falsely claiming to have spiritual attainments. Other important rules are the thirteen Saïghàdisesa, which if infringed must be confessed. While some of the rules deal with moral issues most are about etiquette, monastic protocol and behaviour conducive to harmonious communal living, and thus the Buddha said; ‘After I am gone, the monks can if they want change the minor rules’. According to the Vinaya, monks and nuns should meet together twice a month to recite the Pàtimokkha.

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Castes

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According to this belief the different castes should make their living in different ways, should not mix and should be treated differently. Beyond the four castes are the outcastes, those who have no caste and are considered beyond the pale of ordinary Hindu society. The Buddha was an outspoken critic of the caste system and at least a dozen of his discourses are devoted to highlighting its contradictions and cruelties. The Buddha’s tribe, the Sàkyas, were excessively proud of their high caste status. When a group of them requested to become monks the Buddha ordained Upàli, a low caste barber, first thus giving him a precedence that would require the others to bow to him.The Buddha criticized the caste system on several grounds. The claim that it was ordained by God is no more than a myth. Caste is not practiced everywhere and thus must be a regional custom rather than a universal truth. The claim that different castes have different abilities and personalities is not born out by experience and is thus invalid. Low castes and outcastes may be dirty because they are compelled to do dirty jobs but if they wash themselves they become as clean as everyone else. The caste system engenders cruelty and suffering and is thus evil. Despite the Buddha’s repudiation of caste, less extreme variations of the system are practiced in Sri Lanka, Tibet, Burma, Thailand and even Japan.

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The middle way

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The Noble Eightfold Path is the last of The Four Noble Truths, the central teachings of Buddhism. It is called noble because it ennobles one who practices it; and it is called a path because it leads from one place to another, from the distress of samsara to the freedom of Nibbana. The Noble Eightfold Middle Path is also sometimes called the ‘Middle Way’ because it advocates a life-style that avoids both self-mortification and hedonism. The steps on the Eightfold Path are Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. Traditionally the Noble Eightfold Path is divided into three parts – Virtue, Concentration and Wisdom. Another useful way to divide it is as intellectual training, ethical training and psychological training

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Two types of nibbana/nirvana

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Natural nirvana is another term for voidness (emptiness), the actual way in which all things exist. There are three types of acquired nirvana that are attained: nirvana with a residue, nirvana without residue, also called parinirvana, nonabiding nirvana.

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Three refuges

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the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha are often called the Three Refuges. The Buddha is a refuge in that his enlightenment demonstrates that samsara can be transcended, the Dhamma is a refuge in that it shows how enlightenment can be attained and the Sangha is a refuge in that it offers the guidance, encouragement, example and support needed to transcend samsara.

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Three characteristics of existence

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suffering, impermanence and no-self, in Pali; dukkha, anicca, and anatta. They are universal characteristics of existence, existing in all un-enlightened life. The arahants, who go beyond to the other shore, reach nibbana, which is the only permanent state where the three characteristics of existence do not apply. According to tradition, after much meditation, the Buddha concluded that everything in the physical world (and everything in the phenomenology of psychology) is marked by these three characteristics: Anicca or impermanence. This refers not only to the fact that all conditioned things eventually cease to exist, but also that all conditioned things are in a constant state of flux. (Visualize a leaf growing on a tree. It dies and falls off the tree but is soon replaced by a new leaf.) Dukkha or unsatisfactoriness, "dis-ease" (also often translated "suffering," though this is somewhat misleading). Nothing found in the physical world or even the psychological realm can bring lasting deep satisfaction. Anatta or no-self is used in the suttas both as a noun and as a predicative adjective to denote that phenomena are not, or are without, a permanent self, to describe any and all composite, consubstantial, phenomenal and temporal things, from the macrocosmic to microcosmic, be it matter pertaining to the physical body or the cosmos at large, as well as any and all mental machinations, which are impermanent.

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Four noble truths, Four True Realities

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The central teachings of the Buddha are called the Four Noble Truths. The first of these truths is that ordinary existence is suffering. The second is that suffering is caused by ignorance and craving. The third is that suffering can be transcended. And the fourth Noble Truth is the way and means to transcend suffering, which is The Noble Eightfold Middle Path.

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Five aggregates, five "bundles"

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Matter, Consciousness, Feeling, Perception and memory, Mental formations

There is no permanent entity in any of the five aggregates. The five aggregates exist in the body and mind. They do not exist without the body and the body does not exist without the aggregates. All of our thoughts are impermanent, our personalities are transitory, feelings, perceptions, and life itself is impermanent. Karma is the process which conditions our existence. The only way out of the karmic cycle is through the experience of enlightenment. When we have a body and mind we have the five aggregates and with the five aggregates we have buddha-nature. We have karmic energies, karmic consequences, and a capacity for insight and enlightenment. All animal species and perhaps other living things have this buddha-nature. It is not a thing, it is not a soul, and it is not something that can be grasped.The age-old, common question to Buddhas and Buddhists is, if there is no soul, who or what is re-born? The karmic energies are said to be a progression or transmission from one being to the next. It is a series that continues, but with no permanent personality. One analogy is that of a candle flame. The fire burns from one candle to the next if you use the flame on one to light another. The fire appears to be the same, but is it? The flame from the one candle, let’s say that it is burning out, lights the new candle just as the flame from the first candle dies out. The flame appears to be continuing its existence, but it is just an appearance. The flame has a new body (the wax of the new candle) and new properties of existence. It appears to be the same flame, but it is not, it is a continuation of the series.

another analogy: that of a television remote control. The remote control unit sends a signal to the television and the channel changes. The signal is like our karmic energies. One thing causes the other. It is cause and effect. The remote control unit or its signal does not “become” the television or the channel. An excellent explanation the Buddhist arahant Nagasena gave for no-self is the analogy of self to chariot. Nagasena asks if the pole of the chariot is the chariot. Answer, no. Nagasena asks if the axel is the chariot or if the wheels are the chariot. Answer, no. Nagasena asks if the reins are the chariot. To this and further questions about the parts, the answer is no. Nagasena explains that the chariot is not something other than these parts. Yet the parts are not the chariot. Nagasena states that chariot is just a word, it exists, but only in relation to the parts. The concept “chariot” does not have an intrinsic, inherent value or place as something permanent. It is the same with the self. We certainly exist, just as a chariot exists, but it is more in terms of conventional language as opposed to absolute language.

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Body, feeling, perception, mental formation, consciousness

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five aggregates

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Five Precepts

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moral guidelines to go by so that one may maintain a healthy practice for oneself and for not harming others. As one develops in the Dhamma, one finds that the Precepts grounds your practice and that one cannot waver and purposely break any of the Precepts. In following these Precepts one gradually develops a respect for the life of others, for their property, their dignity, their right to know the truth and a respect for the clarity of one’s own mind. The Buddha called the practice of these Precepts a consideration to others which ‘creates love and respect and which is conducive to helpfulness, non-dispute, harmony and unity

1. refrain from destroying living creatures

2. refrain from taking that which is not given

3. refrain from sexual misconduct

4. refrain from incorrect speech

5. refrain from intoxicating drinks and drugs which lead to carelessness

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Eightfold path

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middle path

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Four or Eight Noble Persons

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Perfections

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the perfection or culmination of certain virtues. In Buddhism, these virtues are cultivated as a way of purification, purifying karma and helping the aspirant to live an unobstructed life, while reaching the goal of enlightenment

o Generosity o Moralityo Renunciationo Wisdomo Energyo Patienceo Trutho Determinationo Loving kindness (metta)o Equanimity

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Loving Kindness

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a feeling of warm affection, interest and concern towards others and is the first of the four Brahma Viharas. ‘Metta is characterised as promoting the welfare of others, its function is to desire their welfare, it manifests as the removal of annoyance and its proximate cause is seeing the loveableness of beings.’ To be psychologically healthy and happy we have to begin by loving ourselves and our direct family. As we grow and mature, we gradually learn to include more individuals in our love – friends, spouse, in-laws, children etc. To develop into a truly spiritual person, our love has to eventually pervade all the beings we come into contact with. In this process of changing love from being projected to becoming pervasive, selfishness, jealousy, attachment and the demand for reciprocation gradually subside and love becomes strong, deep and effortless.

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Compassion

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the ability to feel the distress or pain of others as if it were one’s own. The English word compassion has exactly the same meaning and comes from the Latin com meaning ‘with’ and passion meaning ‘suffering.’ Sometimes in Buddhist psychology compassion is also called commiseration, empathy or sympathy.

the second of the four Brahma Viharas and was more highly praised by the Buddha than any other virtues because it is the root of so many other virtues

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Maitreya

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‘The Loving One’ or ‘The Friendly One’ and is the name that the Buddha of the next era will be known by. At present, Metteyya is a bodhisatta abiding in the Tusita heaven, practicing the spiritual qualities that will lead to his enlightenment in the distant future. In most Buddhist iconography Metteyya is depicted as a beautiful young prince with a stupa in his crown. In late Chinese art he is often depicted as a rotund smiling figure, so as to emphasize his approachability and his warm friendly nature, and is inelegantly and incorrectly dubbed ‘Laughing Buddha’ by some Westerners. The Mahayana and some of the Theravada commentaries place the arrival of Metteya at approximately 5,000 years after the passing of Buddha, which would make it somewhere around the year 4517 which is about 2,500 years from now. The early Theravada discourses hold that there is no set date and that it depends upon when the Dhamma disappears from the world and when the conditions are right, which could be that far off or even longer.

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Kassapa

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the name of a Buddha, the third of the five Buddhas of the present aeon, and the sixth of the six Buddhas prior to the historical Buddha mentioned in the earlier parts of the Pali

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Ananda

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the son of the Buddha’s uncle, he was for many years the Buddha’s personal attendant and was also the most widely loved of all his disciples. Ananda certainly personified kindness, gentleness, warmth and love. The Buddha praised him for his ‘acts of love through body, through speech and through mind’, meaning that he was always ready to lend a helping hand, that he always spoke kindly to people and that he always thought well of others. The Buddha even said that he shared some of the very qualities that he himself had - that people were delighted to see him, that they delighted when he taught the Dhamma and they were disappointed when he finished speaking.Ananda had a crucial role in the First Buddhist council. Having spent so many years close to the Buddha and remembering many of his discourses, he recited them during the council so that the other participants could commit them to memory and pass them down. It is with Ananda's words, Evaṃ me sutaṃ..., ‘Thus have I heard…’ that most suttas begin with.

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Sariputta, Sariputra

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one of the Buddha’s two chief disciples. He and his childhood friend Moggallana both became monks together under the teacher Sanjaya but eventually became disillusioned with him and his philosophy and then split up and went their separate ways looking for a better teacher.One day Sàriputta heard about the Buddha’s Dhamma, converted and straight away went in search of his friend to tell him of the wonderful teaching he had discovered. When they met and Moggallàna heard the Dhamma, he too converted and then the two young men went to find the Buddha so they could be ordained as monks by him. In time the Buddha came to look upon Sàriputta and Moggallàna as his chief disciples and heirs. Sàriputta’s forte was his ability to understand the most abstruse aspects of the Dhamma and expound it in a clear and comprehensible manner, so much so that the Buddha gave him the title of ‘General of the Dhamma.’ In one of his discourses he spoke of the qualities needed to be a good Dhamma teacher, qualities he himself possessed. ‘When one teaches another he should first establish five things within himself and then teach. What five? Let him think; “I will speak at the right time, not at the wrong time. I will speak about what is, not about what is not. I will speak with gentleness, not harshness. I will speak about the goal, not about what is not the goal. I will speak with a mind filled with love, not with a mind filled with ill-will.” First establish these five things and then teach another’. This is one of a number of discourses by Sàriputta preserved in the Tipitaka. In Sri Lankan, Thai and Chinese temples the main statue of the Buddha is often flanked by two smaller statues, one of Sàriputta and the other of Moggallàna.