1. Buddhist beliefs and practices
Jose Luis Villarreal, Ernesto Bonilla, Luis Rios, and John Paul Simons

2. Introduction
The center of all Buddhist beliefs is the Four Noble Truths, from Siddhartha Gautama's earliest sermons.
If a person is ignorant of the Four Noble Truths, it will remain on the endless cycle of Samsara.
Understanding the Four Noble Truths leads to the Noble Eightfold Path, which reminds the person to avoid extremes and to take everything in moderation no matter what.
These beliefs and practices are at the heart of Buddhism.
The monks or nuns are the members of the sangha.

3. Core Beliefs
One fundamental belief is often referred as reincarnation, the concept that people are reborn after dying.
Buddhism differentiates between the concepts of rebirth and reincarnation. In rebirth the person not necessarily returns to earth, it compares it to a leaf growing on a tree, when the withering leaf falls off, a new leaf will eventually replace it.
After many cycles, if a person releases their attachments to desire and the self, they can attain Nirvana.

4. Four noble truths Life is filled with suffering
The cause of suffering is desire
To cease suffering, one must cease desiring
The path to the end of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path

5. Life is filled with suffering
Both physical and mental
Mental suffering comes from traumas in life
Birth is the first trauma
Types of trauma
Physical
Mental
Emotional
Illness
Injury
Age
Fear of death

6. Life is filled with suffering
Samsara – endless cycle of suffering death and rebirth
Karma – cause of samsara
Reasons for suffering
Impermanence
Incompleteness
Imperfection
Discontent
All life is impermanent

7. Life is filled with suffering
Anatma
“no soul” or “not self”
Permanent, unchanging, independent self doesn’t exist
People act as if this permanent soul is real
Ignorance of anatma causes suffering
Contrary to Hinduism
Hindus believed that the soul was God (atman)
Gautama taught that if the soul was God, then there was no real soul

8. The cause of suffering is desire
We crave because we believe in the reality of the individual self
We get frustrated or disappointed when our cravings aren’t satisfied
Even if the craving is satisfied, the happiness is impermanent- we always want more
This is the fundamental cause of ALL suffering

9. To cease suffering, one must cease desiring
One must end samsara and achieve Nirvana to end suffering
The only REAL things in Buddhism- everything is suffering, impermanent, and incomplete
The only permanent is the end of suffering

10. How does suffering cease???
When we free ourselves of the bondage of desires and cravings
When we stop believing that our individual self is real
Freedom from this belief leads to the onset of happiness
Nirvana
The end or extinction of the suffering from samsara

11. Path to the end of suffering is the noble eightfold path
The Middle Way
Between indulgence and self denial
Moral Standard of Buddhism

12. Comparison of samsara with Hinduism
Both believe in samsara but differently
The end of samsara for Hindus is moksha, for Buddhists it is Nirvana
No immortality in Buddhism because there is no self
Nirvana- “extinguish” desires, cravings, and passions
Nirvana ends dilusion

13. The Noble Eightfold Path
They are the central practices of Buddhism
All Buddhist must follow these rules
Once all rules are perfected by a person, he or she will be awakened or enlightened and achieve the ultimate inner peace and happiness
Or Nirvana

14. Right Understanding Requires the person to see who they really are
To understand the cause of suffering
To understand how to end suffering
And to understand how to endure suffering
Or this step is a summation of the Four Noble Truths

15. Right Thought
Requires the mind be purified in order to achieve Enlightenment
To be in the right thought does not mean to get rid of wrong thought
It requires to replace the wrong thought with a good thought
This is very similar to the what Christians teach with the beatitude of single-heartedness

16. Right Speech All words that have hatred must not be said
Any form of a lie must not take place
No slandering or making false statements cannot happen
No gossiping shall happen either
The best thing for a person to do is to be truthful as much as possible
To speak kindly of others

17. Right Conduct This requires people not to cheat Not to steal
Not to murder
And not to engage in any sexual misconduct

18. Right Livelihood
Requires people not to enjoy the actions of harming others or living things
For example, harming animals such as slaughtering
Or harming a person with a weapon
Or selling any drugs and alcohol
Best thing to do is to live a good life without any trouble

19. Right Effort This path deals with the persons state of mind
Requires a person to get rid of bad or delusional thoughts
It is better to prepare good thoughts

20. Right Mindfulness The person must always be aware of their thoughts
Not only thoughts, but feelings and actions as well
To be on the right mind is to know oneself

21. Right Concentration This is the final path in a form of meditation
The person must concentrate on one object only
They must ignore all other objects except for the one he or she is concentrating on
This allows a person to see things as they really are and enable them to gain enlightenment

22. The Noble Eightfold Path
It is categorized in three main practices
-morality
-meditation
-wisdom
Moral actions lead to meditation
Meditation then brings wisdom to the mind
And wisdom allows the person to make good actions
Following this cycle can lead to Enlightenment as well

23. Community Sangha – Buddhist community of monks or nuns
Only those in a monastic lifestyle could truly practice the teachings of Buddha
Sangha in modern terms includes laity
Sangha is one of the three jewels with Buddha and Dharma
“I take refuge in the Buddha
I take refuge in the Dharma
I take refuge in the Sangha” (Clemmons 256)

24. Community Monastic and lay lifestyles are dependent on each other
Monks provide spiritual nourishment and laity provide physical nourishment
Arhat- “worthy one” – describes someone who reached Nirvana for Theravada Buddhists
In Mahayana- bodhisattva is one who delays Nirvana

25. Japanese sects Zen Shin Mahayana
Earn their own livelihood rather than beg
Shin
Doesn’t require celibacy for monks