1. Buddhist Teachings

2. Kamakura Buddha

3. From Prince Siddhartha to the Buddha The Four Noble Truths
Overview
From Prince Siddhartha to the Buddha
The Four Noble Truths
The Eight-Fold Path
The Three Jewels
The spread of Buddhism

4. Buddhism is a non-theistic religion
The Dharma
Buddhism is a non-theistic religion
There is no personal god nor was Buddha a god or is worshipped
Buddha was a man who attained enlightenment through meditation and showed the path to freedom

5. There is no immortal self
Anatta
There is no immortal self
A human being is a energy process composed of momentary flashes
All human beings are interconnected with the universe as energy processes
Nothing in the world is solid

6. Unlike the Hindu, Buddhism does not believe in an eternal soul
Reincarnation
Unlike the Hindu, Buddhism does not believe in an eternal soul
But the rebirth process is because one changing state of being sets another into motion—karma
Personality is created moment by moment

7. Vow of the Bodhisattva
Beings are infinite in numbers, I vow to save them all;
The obstructive passions are endless in number, I vow to end them all;
The teachings for saving others are countless, I vow to learn them all;
Buddhahood is the supreme achievement, I vow to attain it.

8. Prince Siddhartha
Who Became A Buddha…

9. The Four Sights

10. Becoming a Renunciate
Seven years were spent in the forest practicing austerities and studying the wisdom of the times.

11. Becoming a Buddha
In the year 528 B.C. Prince Siddhartha became a Buddha. He died at the age of 80 in the year 483 B.C. Five hundred monks met for seven months to put his words to memory in sacred chants.

12. Deer Park

13. The Four Noble Truths 1 - Life has pain & suffering
2 - Suffering is caused by ignorance & desire
3 - Reducing desire reduces suffering
4 - The Eight-fold Path provides a way out of our karmic predicament of continuous re-births that result in continuous suffering

14. The Eight Worldly Pre-Occupations
Praise
Gain
Fame
Pleasure
Pain
Disgrace
Loss
Blame

15. The Eight-fold Path

16. Om Mani Padme Hum
(Purity…Jewel…Lotus…Indivisible)
Means something like…
If you practice the path with the complete union of compassion and wisdom, you can transform all impurities to become a Buddha.

17. The Two Truths: The Question of Inherent Existence
Conventional Wisdom
Ultimate Wisdom

18. The Three Jewels
Buddha
Dharma
Sangha

19. Spread of Buddhism

20. Delusions & emotional sickness prevail Violence is rampant
The Kali Yuga period…
Our life-force is weak
Delusions & emotional sickness prevail
Violence is rampant
False attitudes pretend to be true
Advice: In a rotten society, the worst thing would be to follow the social norm.

21. Hinayana, Mahayana & Vajrayana
Vajrayana is the use of subtle vital energies to transform the mind. The gross mind is neutralized and the subtle mind “rides” on the clear light of bliss. This inner light is considered the only aspect of existence that is eternal. Once uncovered, one is said to be capable of attaining Buddha-hood.

22. In the practice of rituals, the diamond sceptre (vajra) symbolizes method and the bell wisdom. With their unification the human being obtains the insight that all dualities derive from Relative Truth and that, in Absolute Truth, subject and object, internal and external world, nirvana and samsara are one and empty.

23. The Dalai Lama As a Tulku

24. Wood Valley Temple

25. Zen
Zen

26. Buddhism spread to China around the time of Christ
Development of Zen
Buddhism spread to China around the time of Christ
It absorbed elements of the Tao
Bodhidharma in 5th century first patriarch of Ch’an Buddhism - Zen

27. Dismisses all scriptures
Qualities of Zen
Dismisses all scriptures
Relies on direct experience towards cosmic unity
Zazen – to sit and gain absolute freedom to not allow any thought to disturb your original nature

28. Sengtsan
The Great Way is not difficult for thos who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised.
6th Patriarch of Zen

30. Stages of The Path

31. Satori
“The moon is the same old moon, the flowers exactly as they were,
Yet I’ve become the thingness of all the things I see!”

32. Pure Land Buddhism
Modern Japan – needed Amida Buddha to save them rather than save themselves
Pure Land is similar idea to Christian heaven

33. 13th century Japanese fisherman Lotus Sutra
Nichiren
13th century Japanese fisherman
Lotus Sutra
Strive to save self and society
“Namu myoho rengekyo”

34. Considerations…
“Civilization has nothing to do with having electric lights, airplanes, or manufacturing atomic bombs. It has nothing to do with killing human beings, destroying things or waging war. Civilization is to hold one another in mutual affection and respect.”

35. 5 million Tibetan Buddhists in west Many vipassana retreats
Buddhism in the West
5 million Tibetan Buddhists in west
Many vipassana retreats
Thich Nhat Hanh – Vietnamese monk is author of many books

36. Engaged Buddhism
“Not to respond to the suffering around us is a sign of an insane civilization.”
Dulak Sivaraksa, founder

37. The Heart Sutra of Profound Illimination
…noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, said… Form is emptiness; emptiness also is form. Emptiness is no other than form; form is no other than emptiness.

38. In the same way, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness are emptiness. Thus, …all dharmas are emptiness. There are no characteristics. There is no birth and no cessation. There is no impurity and no purity. There is no decrease and no increase.

39. …in emptiness, there is no form, no feeling, no perception, no formation, no consciousness…… no ignorance, no end of ignorance up to no old age and death, no end of old age and death; no suffering, no origin of suffering, no cessation of suffering, no path, no wisdom, no attainment, and no non-attainment.

40. Summary You are the source of suffering & liberation
A soft heart & quiet mind can see the truth
Ignorance is a mistake in identity
Truth sees the mistake & eliminates suffering
Compassion & wisdom are the tools
Vow of the Bodhisattva