Siddhartha Gotama (Siddhartha Gautama in Sanskrit), who is referred to as the Buddha, which means "awakened one".  Firm dates for his life cannot be established from historical information.  Conventional sources say he lived from 566 - 486 BCE  Recent research suggests the dates 490 – 410 BCE

Major Texts

Buddha’s discourses are collected into four divisions:

• Digha Nikaya
• Majjhima Nikaya
• Anguttara Nikaya
• Samyutta Nikaya – Part of the canon of Buddha’s discourses (also known as sutras)

Place of Worship

The communal practice of Buddhism takes place in a temple or center. Meditation is a central practice in Buddhism. Buddhists meditate at temples/centers, as well as in their homes.


Key Concepts

To understand the teachings of Buddhism, it is helpful to first understand several key concepts.

Samsara – A process of rebirth that is repeated numerous times; reincarnation. It is referred to as endless wandering. "All living creatures are part of this cyclic movement and will continue to be reborn until they attain nirvana."¹

Realms of rebirth – There are 6 realms of rebirth, from top (best) to bottom (worst):

• Gods – the heavenly realm, which consists of 26 levels. There is no rebirth in the five highest levels.
• Humans
• Titans – demons bent on warfare due to a thirst for power.
• Ghosts – spirits who are former humans with insatiable desires.
• Animals
• Hell – a temporary place of torment due to evil behavior in a previous life.

Nirvana – The goal of Buddhism. A complete cessation of existence. The end of the cycle of rebirth, where all passions have been extinguished. 

Karma – A moral act that a person does. Good karma leads a person up the ladder of the realms of rebirth.  Bad karma leads a person down the ladder of the realms of rebirth. The consequences of a person’s actions may be experienced in the present lifetime and/or a future lifetime.

Man’s major problem – The primary problem faced by people is suffering, which is caused by desire.


Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, which are also called the Chatvari Arya Satyani, are:

• Misery
• The advent of misery
• Restraint of misery
• The way that liberates from misery

Man is viewed as having 3 different paths to follow: 

1.  The pursuit of desire and pleasure (sensuality).
2.  The pursuit of pain and hardship (asceticism).
3.  The middle way, which is between the 2 extremes above. The Eight-Fold Path is the middle way. The Eight-Fold Path consists of:

• Right view
• Right aim
• Right speech
• Right action
• Right living
• Right effort
• Right mindedness
• Right meditation

Major Religious Teachings

View of God:  Buddhism is atheistic due to the belief that there is no supreme being.

"The Buddha rarely if ever discussed God – theism is not a central part of Buddha’s path to awakened enlightenment, peace, and deathless nirvana. Whether there is a God or not is one of the 14 questions that Buddha famously refused to speculate about or entertain, mainly because he was intent upon people seeking and finding the deepest truth about reality through their own experience."²

However, Buddhism includes belief in the existence of gods and spirits. "Buddha actually accepted and took for granted the existence of higher beings like Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, and the other devas (long-lived gods, demigods, archangels)…"³

View of reality: Reality consists of both the material and spiritual worlds. 

View of man: Man has no soul.

View of the afterlife: A central aspect of Buddhism is reincarnation, where the "process of repeated rebirth is known as samsara or ‘endless wandering’, a term suggesting continuous movement like the flow of a river. All living creatures are part of this cyclic movement and will continue to be reborn until they attain nirvana."⁴

Time – In Buddhism, time is cyclical, instead of linear.

Truth – "Ultimate truth is emptiness.  Emptiness is not nothingness, but lack of inherent existence.  Inherent existence is mistakenly projected onto phenomena by our self-grasping mind.  All phenomena naturally appear to our mind to be inherently existent and, without realizing that this appearance is mistaken, we instinctively assent to it and hold phenomena to exist inherently, or truly.  This is the fundamental reason why we are in samsara."⁵

Branches of Buddhism

There are several major branches of Buddhism:

Hinayana – Also known as the "lesser vehicle".

Mahayana – Known as the "greater vehicle". Mahayana is practiced predominantly in north Asia, including Tibet, China and Japan.

Theraveda ("original teaching"). Practiced predominantly in south Asia, including Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Tibetan Buddhism

Zen Buddhism

There is no central leader or headquarters of Buddhism.

Prominent Figures

Dalai Lama – Born Tenzin Gyatso in 1935, the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibet. He is believed to be the fourteenth reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. He lives in exile in India.

Thich Nhat Hanh – A Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk and well-known author of such works as Living Buddha, Living Christ.

Festivals, Ceremonies and Holidays

Key Terms

Dharma – The teaching of Buddha.  Dharma also means "protection".  "By practising Buddha’s teachings we protect ourself from suffering and problems.  All the problems we experience during daily life originate in ignorance, and the method for eliminating ignorance is to practice Dharma."⁶ 

Monastery – The place where Buddhist monks live.

Monk – A person who devotes his life to Buddhist principles and practices.  A monk’s head is shaved upon initiation.  "Buddhist monks have no priestly role – they are not intermediaries between God and mankind – and their ordination confers no supernatural powers or authority."⁷ 

Nirvana – "A complete cessation of being and supreme goal of Buddhist endeavor."⁸ 

Sutra – A teaching of Buddha. 

Buddhism in the Media

Books:
Siddhartha, Herman Hesse, 1922.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Persig, 1974.

Movies:
Kundun, 1997
Seven Years in Tibet, 1997

Significant Historical Events (to be expanded later)