c. 624 BC Birth of Siddhartha Gautama of the Sakyas/Shakyas (Shakyamuni) Brought up to be great world king The Four Sights (old man, diseased man, corpse, hermit monk) The Great Going Forth
Searching for the truth The bhodi (wisdom) tree, Mara (Death), and becoming the Buddha (Enlightened One)
The Four Noble Truths: Noble Truth of Sorrow Noble Truth of the Arising of Sorrow Noble Truth of the Stopping of Sorrow Noble Truth of the Way that Leads to the Stopping of Sorrow (Eightfold Path leading to nirvana)
The growth of the sangha (community) Guidelines for monasticism, incl. Chastity No possessions Begging for food Nonviolence
483 BC The Buddha dies and enters parinirvana Sharing the relics
Major Buddhist texts Sutra Pitaka - sermons and dialogues Vinaya Pitaka - rules for monks and nuns Abhidharma - discussions of doctrine
Theravada (Path of the Elders) Buddhism Claiming to follow Buddha’s teaching most closely Monastic communities supported by lay community
Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) Buddhism - grew out of: Discontent with behaviour of arhants (enlightened monks), egalitarian sentiments Impact of Hindu bhakti (devotional) practice New philosophical approaches to Buddhism
Course of the bodhisattva (Buddha in the making): voluntarily remaining in samsara Buddha as the Dharma with “Dharma Body” and other forms
Vajrayana (Diamond Vehicle) Buddhism Developed in India, influenced by Hindu Tantricism Sacred cosmos replicated in human body Use of forbidden substances and practices Claiming can reach Buddha-hood in this life
Chan/Zen (Meditation) Buddhism Buddha-nature within Dispensing with distractions of goals/ rewards/verbal logic Use of koans (riddles) by some
Tibetan Buddhism Geluk-pa (Virtuous School, Yellow Hats) Tsongkhapa ( ) Learning, discipline, celibacy, traditional monasticism, Tantric magic Sonam Gyatsho ( ) Altan, Mongol Khan
Dalai Lama (Ocean of Wisdom Teacher) Avalokiteshvara (bodhisattva) Reincarnation of Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama (b. 1935)
A mixed position Impact of secularism and other religions e.g. Chinese takeover of Tibet, from which Dalai Lama fled in 1959 Challenges leading to revitalisation Popularity in rest of world