Comparative Religions

 Siddhartha Gautama who was born in Nepal around 563 BC.  His father was a ruler so he grew up in luxury  At 16 he married a princess and they had a son  Siddhartha’s father had fortunetellers predict Siddhartha’s life when he was born.  Sid’s career was crossed:  If he succeeded his father as ruler, he would be a world conqueror who unified India  If he denied his succession, he would be a world redeemer

 In his 20’s, Sid chose the path away from ruling.  He left the palace and his family to learn religion from the Hindu priests.  After the Hindu priests, he joined the ascetics and learned from them.  Between the Hindus and the Ascetics he found the Middle Way – the area between the extremes of denial in Ascetcism and indulgence

 In the final phase of his quest, he decided to meditate until he reached his goal of enlightenment.  Sat down under a Bodhi tree and refused to get up until he was enlightened.  While he sat under the tree he was tempted three times by Mara – the evil one  Sid rebuffed her temptations and she fled.  The next morning he “woke up” and was no longer Sid, but Buddha.  Mara tempted him one more time, but Buddha prevailed and she left him alone forever.

 Buddha  Founded an order of Monks  Challenged the Brahmins  Accepted the skeptics attitudes  His routine  Train monks and oversee the order  Public preaching  Private counseling  Withdrawal for renewal

 He taught for nine months, withdrew for three in seclusion with his monks  Buddha also withdrew three times each day to meditate  Buddha died at 80 years old after eating poisonous mushrooms

 Buddha was a compassionate rationalist.  Buddha was human  He refused all efforts to turn him into a god  He disciples called him Sakyamuni – silent sage and Tathagata – the perfectly enlightened one

 Six features of all religions  Authority  Ritual  Explanations  Tradition  Grace  Mystery

 What Buddha preached in relation to these six features:  Religion should be devoid of authority  Religion should be devoid of ritual  His religion skirted explanation  Religion should be devoid of tradition  Religion should exist on intense self-effort  Religion should be devoid of all supernatural

 What Buddha did preach:  Religion is empirical – you must know for yourself  Religion is scientific – what’s here is here, what’s not is not  Religion is pragmatic – it is a tool to help you get to where you are going spiritually  Religion is therapeutic – it can make you feel better  Religion is psychological – look to yourself and what you need  Religion is egalitarian – women can be enlightened too  Religion is for individuals – he urged working out one’s own salvation with diligence

 The Four Noble Truths  Dukkha – suffering  How much of life is enjoyable?  At what level of our being does enjoyment begin?  We suffer because we are off-balance with ourselves. This is obvious at four times in our lives:  Birth trauma  Illness  Old age  Death  What causes dukkha? Tanha – ego. The bigger it gets, the worse it is.  Overcoming Tanha. Release from our ego/self-interest releases our torment/suffering  The way out of torment is the Eightfold Path

 How to remove the suffering caused by the ego.  Right knowledge  Right aspiration  Right speech  Right behavior  Right livelihood  Right effort  Right mindfulness  Right absorption

 Right knowledge  Know the Four Noble Truths  Right aspiration  Do we really want enlightenment?  Right speech  What we say reveals our character  Right behavior  Don’t kill, steal, lie, be unchaste, drink, or do drugs  Right livelihood  Join a monastery or find an occupation that makes you happy while working

 Right effort  Keep working hard toward you goal so you can get to where you want to be  Right mindfulness  Ignorance is our biggest enemy; see everything as it really is  Right absorption  Change so that you can experience the world in a new way.

 Nirvana is the goal of Buddhism – bliss through enlightenment  Three Marks of Existence:  Dukkha – suffering  Annatta – a lack of permanent identity  Anicca – impermanence  Basically, these three things are loosely tied together to make humans who they are.

 Three questions that divide his followers:  Are people independent or interdependent?  Is the universe friendly, indifferent, or hostile?  What is the best part of the human self, its head or its heart?  Buddha’s followers divided over these questions.  Hinayanas are the smaller sect who believe the way to enlightenment is only through becoming a monk and practicing Buddhism full time.  Mahayanas believed Buddhism was good for the common person and could be achieved by laypersons.

 Call their form of Buddhism Theraveda – the Way of the Elders  The Pali Cannon – early Buddhist texts support their position

 Believe Buddha did more through his life’s example than through instruction  Base their faith on the fact that he did not stay in a state of nirvana, he returned to work/serve the people.

 Theraveda – progress rests with the individual  Mahayanists – progress rests with the phenominal  Theraveda – people are on their own for salvation  Mahayanists – Buddha and bdhisattvas work for us on our salvation  Theraveda – wisdom is the most important  Mahayanists – wisdom is important, but compassion also needs to be cultivated.

 Theraveda – the sangha (monks) are the heart of this sect  Mahayanists – their priests can marry and have a life but are expected to be servants to their laity.  Theraveda – The ideal is arhat – to be the perfect disciple  Mahayanists – perfected wisdom through nirvana is renounced to return to the world and serve.  Theaveda – Buddha is a supreme sage  Mahayanists – Buddha is a savior

 Pure Land School – believes a compassionate Buddha will carry his followers to the Pure Land of the Western Paradise (heaven)  Confucian predilections for learning and social harmony

 Comes from Buddha’s Flower Sermon  He said nothing, just held up a golden lotus  One dude, Mahakasyapa, smiled and nodded, so Buddha decided he understood and made Mahakasyapa his successor.  Zen is a faith of deep questions often with no way to find the true answer.  Two branches of Zen  Rinzai  Soto (we won’t address this one)

 Rinzai Sect  Four key terms:  Zazen – seated meditation  Koan - problem  Sanzen – private meeting with a master about his meditation  Satori – breakthrough in solving his koan  Once satori is reached, five things have been accomplished:  Monk finds life distinctly good  He has an objective look at his relation to others  He returns to the world he now perceives differently  His attitude is now one of general agreeableness  He will never again feel that his death will bring an end to his life

 Zen influence on Japan  Sumie – black ink landscape painting  Landscape gardening  Flower arranging  Tea Ceremony

 Uses the Vajrayana (Indian god of Thunder) to help them realize Buddha’s wisdom and compassion  The essence of Vajrayana is Tantra – focusing on the interrelatedness of things

 Tibetans see success in practices which helps them reach nirvana in a single lifetime.  They focus on speech, gestures, and vision  Mantras – Tibetans focus on making sounds into holy formulas  Mudras – Tibetans focus on choreographed hand gestures turning them into sacred dances  Mandalas – Icons whose holy beauty empowers – created by Tibetans  Dalai Lama – holy leader of Tibetan Buddhism  His job is to incarnate on earth the celestial principle of compassion or mercy

 Buddhism is a journey  Buddhists must choose which path to follow to reach their journey’s end  Hinayana or Mahayana  Recognize Buddhism’s Three Vows:  I take refuge in the Buddha  I take refuge in the dharma  I take refuge in the sangha  Finally, realize that Buddha was a divine incarnation – an avatar.