World Religions: Buddhism

Buddhism Videos

Buddhism began in northeastern India and is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. He was called the Buddha (“awakened one”) and lived in the 4th or 5th century B.C. in India.

The religion is 2,500 years old and is followed by 350 million Buddhists worldwide. Buddhism is the main religion in many Asian countries. It is a religion about suffering and the need to get rid of it. A key concept of Buddhism is Nirvana, the most enlightened, and blissful state that one can achieve. A state without suffering.

Siddharta Gautama

Siddharta Gautama is known as the Buddha.

He was born around the year 580 BCE in the village of Lumbini in Nepal. He was born into a royal family and for many years lived within the palace walls away from the sufferings of life; sufferings such as sickness, age, and death. He did not know what they were.

One day, after growing-up, marrying and having a child, Siddhartha went outside the royal palace and saw, each for the first time, an old man, a sick man, and a corpse. He was worried by what he saw. He learned that sickness, age, and death were the inevitable fate of human beings — a fate no-one could avoid.

Siddharta had also seen a monk, and he decided this was a sign that he should leave his protected royal life and live as a homeless Holy Man. Siddharta's travels showed him much more of the suffering of the world. He searched for a way to escape the inevitability of death, old age and pain first by studying with religious men. This didn't provide him with an answer.

Beliefs

Buddhism is different from many other faiths because it is not centred on the relationship between humanity and God. Buddhists do not believe in a personal creator God. Siddhartha Gautama found the path to Enlightenment. By doing so he was led from the pain of suffering and rebirth towards the path of Enlightenment and became known as the Buddha or "awakened one".

Buddhist believe that the Buddha saw the truth about what the world is like. They believe that nothing in the world is perfect, and that the Buddha found the answer to why it is like this. They do not believe that the Buddha was a god. He was a human being just like them. They believe that he was important because he gained Enlightenment, and he chose to teach other people how to reach it too.

The Three Jewels

There are three Buddhist central beliefs. These are known as the three jewels as they are felt to be so precious.

Belief in Buddha
Dharma - The teaching of Buddha
Sangha - the Buddhist community made up of ordinary people as well as the monks and nuns. The purpose is to help others and by doing so to cease to become selfish and to move on the way towards Enlightenment.

At the heart of the Buddha's teaching lie The Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path which lead the Buddhist towards the path of Enlightenment.

The Four Noble Truths

Dukkha

Dukkha is the truth of suffering. The Buddha relates these truths to what he saw when he left the palace: Getting old, becoming sick & death
The Buddha taught that we don’t always get we want from life, and we have to accept that.

Samudāya

The Buddha says that all of our worries and problems are caused by desire.
He stated that desire comes from 3 things:
1. Greed (which is represented in art by a rooster);
2. Ignorance (which is represented by a pig);
3. Hatred and destructive urges (represented by a snake).

Nirodha

The third truth that the Buddha taught is that to get rid of desire, we have to detach ourselves from possessions. The Buddha taught people that once they got rid of the need for possessions, they would have reached a state of mind called nirvana. You can only reach nirvana once you have got rid of greed, delusion and hatred. The Buddha said that when you have reached nirvana, you will have compassion for all living things.

Magga

The final Noble Truth is the Buddha's hope for the end of suffering.
The Buddha said that there are 8 steps that should be followed in order to get rid of suffering.

The Eightfold Path

Right view - to see things as they really are, follow the 4 Noble Truths.
Right intention - only do the things we know are good.
Right speech - don’t lie. Don’t say words that would hurt others.
Right action - don’t hurt ourselves or others. Be kind to others. Respect their belongings.
Right livelihood - make sure we earn enough money through good means.
Right effort - understand that nothing can be achieved without the right effort. Be focused. Work hard.
Right mindfulness - don’t let things get in the way of the way we think. Don’t be swayed by other people’s opinions or thoughts.
Right concentration - direct all the thoughts of our mind onto one thing (through meditation).

Life after death

Nirvana

Buddhist believe that there is a cycle of birth, life and death and rebirth. This goes on and on. They believe that unless someone gains Enlightenment, when they die they will be reborn. If a person can gain Enlightenment, they can break out of this cycle.

Breaking out of the cycle is called Nirvana. It is the end of everything that is not perfect. It is perfect peace, free of suffering.

Karma

Karma is a word that many people believe in. It is the belief that the actions that we do will affect us:

If we do something good, then something good will happen to us.
If we do something bad, then something bad will happen to us.
KARMA means a PERSON’S ACTIONS.

Buddhists use a METAPHOR of fruit to explain karma:

If you sow a good deed, then you will get good fruit, however if you sow a bad deed then you will get rotten fruit.
Buddhists believe that we lead many lives, and come back as different people or different animals in each life. They believe that if we were bad in a previous life, then our current life will be full of misfortunes. However, if we were good in a previous life, then we will have lots of joy and happiness in our current life.
Karma determines where a person will be reborn and how they will live in their next life. Good karma can result in being born in one of the heavenly realms. Bad karma can cause rebirth as an animal, or torment in a hell realm.

Holy books

The Tripitaka (Pali Canon), Mahayana Sutras and the Tibetan Book of the Dead are three major Buddhist texts. The Pali Canon, which means “the word of Buddha,” includes some of the Buddha's discourse as well as the teachings of his pupils.

Worship

Buddhist worship at home or at a temple. Worshippers may sit on the floor barefoot facing an image of Buddha and chanting. It is very important that their feet face away from the image of Buddha. They listen to monks chanting from religious texts and take part in prayers.

Meditation

Buddhists try to reach Nirvana by following the Buddha's teaching and by meditating. Meditation means training the mind to empty it all of thoughts. when this happens what is important comes clear.

Festivals

The main Buddhist festival of the year is Buddha Day / Wesak / Vaisakha, the celebration of the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. The festival is a celebration of much colour. Homes are decorated and lanterns are made of paper or wood. Buddhists also visit their local temples for services and teachings, and give offerings to monks.

Symbols

Lotus Flower

The lotus has been used in many teachings of Buddhism as a metaphor for life. The roots of the lotus plant are stuck deep in the mud, but it still grows above murky water and blossoms into a beautiful, sweet-smelling flower. Buddhists use this as a metaphor to describe how people rise up from our sufferings to reach enlightenment.

Different coloured lotus plants mean different things in Buddhism. White means spiritual and mental purity, pink means the traditional Buddha, purple is for mysticism, red means love and compassion, while blue means wisdom.

Parasol

An umbrella can protect people from the different elements, like the sun or the rain. Buddhists use a parasol as a metaphor that a parasol or umbrella can mean protection from suffering and harmful forces.

The Dharma Wheel

The dharma wheel is often used to represent Buddha himself. It has become the main symbol for Buddhism. It has eight spokes to represent the eightfold path.

The Lion

The Lion is one of Buddhism's most important symbols. The lion is the symbol of royalty that Siddhartha Gautama was before he reached enlightenment and became the Buddha. It is also the power of the Buddha's teaching and is often compared with the roar of a lion.

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