Buddhism: Chapter 3

Features that distinguish Theravada

1) adherence to the Tipitaka; 2) centrality of monastic life; 3) affirmation of the verbatim words of the Four Noble Truths; 4) self reliance is the mode of operation - each is responsible for achieving liberation 5) making merit

Five Aggregates composed of bodily and physical states

1) body/rupa 2) feelings/vedana 3) perceptions/sanna 4) predispositions from past impressions 5) consciousness/vijnana

Three kinds of merit making

1) giving 2) virtue - which entails living ethically, calmly and tranquility 3) Mental development - entails cultivation of charity, loving-kindness, mental discipline of purity

Five Virtues - Abstain from

1) harming living beings 2) taking what is not given 3) misconduct concerning sense pleasure 4) False speech 5)unmindful states due to drugs or alcohol

Mahayana branch of Buddhism

1) largest form 2) many varieties 3) goal is liberation from samsara

Common features of Tibetan Buddhists

1) worship prioritizes ritual over meditation; 2) mandalas -magical diagrams; 3) uses tantrism 4)worship of Prayer wheels

What is the name of the leader of Tibetan Buddhism?

Dalai Lama

The Third Noble Truth

Dukkha nirodha - suffering can end if we stop thirsting for things.

The Second Noble Truth

Dukkha samudaya - suffering is caused when we desire and crave

The First Noble Truth

Dukkha;life is filled with all kind of suffering

Mahayana

East Asia

stupas

Eight relic mounds in which Buddhas ashes are divided

Gohonzon

Object of Worship, legacy of Nichiren

Avalokiteshvara

the embodiment of compassion; all seeing, all knowing one, 130 different depictions of him; most popular bodhisattva; Kuan-yin in China; Kannon in Japan; chief attendant to Amitabha; resides in the Pure Land

Annicca

the idea that everything is impermanent

Dharma wheel

the way to enlightenment

Pure Land Buddhism refers to

the worship of Amitabha Buddha

Mahayana Buddhists believe

they can have direct contact with Buddha

Literal meaning of Nirvana

to blow out

Bon

traditional Tibetan indigenous religion

Dharma literally means

what holds together, cosmic order, natural law

Buddhist scriptures were written in Pali, a venacular language

which meant that Buddhist truths were more accessible to all people regardless of caste.

Theravada

Branch of Buddhism found in South East Asia

Flower Sermon

Buddhas last sermon; gives lotus flower to Mahakashyapa, who is awakened

Tibetan Buddhism combines

Buddhism and Bon

tantra

complicated, esoteric meditational systems

tanha

craving; the thirst for things that is the root of suffering

What caused the split in Buddhism

disagreement over the Vinaya Pikata

Vinaya

disciplines or rules that members of the sangha lived by

Maitreya

earliest cult bodhisattva; accepted by both Theravada and Mahayana followers

arhat/arahant

enlightened one/holy one

bodhi

enlightenment

Annatta

everything lacks an abiding, enduring persistent self

Three marks of existence

annicca, annatta, maya

What is a mandalas

anthropomorphic representations

Acharya Nagarjuna

argued that there is no such thing as a self-essence of any kind; applied the idea of sunyata to everything

Punya

meritorious acts that produce happiness or good karma

Buddhism is the earliest of the three

missionary religions

bhikkhu

monk

Dukkha-dukkha

obvious physical or mental pain

Tathagata

one who has gone (how Lord Buddha referred to himself)

Bodhisattvas

other Buddhas

Viraparinama-dukkha

pain of change; loss of something valuable

Abhidharma

philosophical texts

Turning of the dharma wheel

refers to the teaching and disseminating of Buddhist insights.

Sutras

series of talks Buddha gave to his disciples

Abhidharma Pitaka is divided into

seven sections

Upaya

skillful means; a way or device to persuade individuals toward liberation

Dukkha means

suffering of all kinds

Majjhima Patipada

the Middle Path

Maya

the appearance of permanency is an illusion

The historical Buddha grew up within

the cultural and religious world of Hinduism

Mahasanghikas

"greater order of monks" (more liberal interpretations)

Eightfold path

1) Do not say anything to hurt others (Right Speech) 2) respect life, morality and property (right action) 3) work at a job that does not injure anyone (right livlihood) 4) Try to free your mind from evil thoughts (right effort) 5) be in control of your thoughts and feelings (right mindfulness) 6) practice proper concentration (right concentration); 7)try to resist evil (right thought) 8) Know the truth (right understanding)

The Four Noble Truths

1) Suffering/Dukkha; 2)Suffering's origins/Dukkha samaudaya; 3)Suffering's cessation/Dukkha nirodha 4)The path leading to cessation of suffering/Dukkha nirodha gamini patipada magga

Common themes of Mahayana

1) Sunyata -everything is void and empty 2) parinirvana (Buddha's death) was an illusion; 3) seeking enlightenment for the sake of serving others 4) Direct contact with Buddha

How many Buddhists are there world wide

375 Million

Samadhi

4) right effort, 5) right mindfulness 6) right concentration

Prajna

7) right thoughts 8) right understandings

Who is Nagarjuna

A Mahayana philosopher; articulated the doctrine of emptiness (shunyata) and is traditionally regarded as the founder of the Madhyamika ("Middle Way") school, an important tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy

Shingon Buddhism

A form of Vajrayana found in Japan

The only claim Lord Buddha made for himself

I am awake

Three Refuges or Three Jewels

I take refuge in the Buddha; I take refuge in the dharma; I take refuge in the sangha

Nichiren Buddhism

Japanese sect founded by Nichiren a Tendai monk

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is the same as

Kuan-yin

Jataka Tales

Legends of the historical Buddha

Siddhartha is

Lord Buddha

Mahakashyapa

Lord Buddha's closest disciple; the first of the Zen patriarchs

What is the name for "Great Vehicle" within Buddhism?

Mahayana

Lotus Sutra

Mahayana text that laid out the fundamental concept of skillful means, which is a way or divice to move toward liberation

Tipitaka is made up of

Monastic code/Vinaya Pitaka, the word of Lord Buddha/Sutra Pitaka; philosophical analyses and discussions of other pitakas/Abhidharma Pitaka

Buddhism can be described as a

Shramanic movement which describes monks and nuns who were wandering ascetics working toward their liberation

Tendai Buddhism

Teaches the superiority of the Lotus Sutra over all other scriptures

Lord Buddha regarded extreme asceticism

as unnecessary for liberation and advocated the Middle Way.

According to Buddhism, what transmigrates

The Five Aggregates (skandhas); Body, Feelings, Perceptions, predispositions, and consciousness.

Majjhima Patpada

The Middle Path

Triratna

The Three Jewels

Sthaviravadins

The way of the elders (more conservative group)

What are the two branches of Buddhism

Theravada and Mahayana

The Fourth Noble Truth

There is a path to the cessation of suffering known as the Eightfold Path

What are the four mindfulnesses? Mindful contemplation of the

body; feelings, thoughts, and elements of reality

Monk Saicho

brought Tendai to Japan from China

Sangha

community or congregation

Vajrayana

Tibetan Buddhism

Pali Canon

Tripatka

Tipitaka or Tripitaka

Vinaya; Sutras; Abhidharma

What Buddhist tradition uses the saying "what is the sound of one hand clapping"

Zen Buddhism

bodhisattva

a being who has achieved enlightenment and dedicates themselves to helping others reach enlightenment; quasi saviors

Naraka

a kind of pergatory

The four sights of suffering Siddhartha saw were

a very old man, a sick person, a corpse, and an ascetic

Parinirvana

final nirvana or real transformation

Sutra Pitaka is divided into

five major collections (nikayas)

Zen Buddhism

focus on meditation as the path to enlightenment; in favor of training for direct intuition of cosmic unity; use sitting meditation -zazen; use of word puzzles -koans

Sila

good behavior that reflects ethical conduct 1)right speech 2) right action, 3) right livelihood

Avidya

ignorance of the nonself

Samkhara-dukkha

ignorance of thinking that cravings can be satisfied

satori

individual enlightenment; flash of sudden awareness

Anagarika Dharmapala

introduced the West to Buddhism at the World Parliament of Religions; name means homeless guardian of the Dharma; first missionary of Theravada Buddhism to the U.S.; also preached on three continents - Asia, North America; Europe

sadhu

it is good,

Emperor Asoka

major proponent of Buddhism