Buddha = enlightened one
Siddhartha Gautama (b. 563 BC)
reject Vedas, caste, sacrificial system, importance of gods
Bodhi tree
Deer Park sermon
middle path (between pleasure seeking and asceticism)
4 Noble truths
all life is suffering (dukkha)
suffering caused by desire
end suffering if end desire
end desire through dharma/morality (8 fold path)
8 fold path
right understanding, motives, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, meditation
Practice
meditation
mantras, mandalas
nirvana
cessation of self
no monotheistic God
no eternal atman (anatta)
sangha (Buddhist monastic community)
Monastic Vows:
Refrain from destroying life (ahimsa)
No stealing
Abstain from unchastity
No lying or deceiving
No intoxicants
Moderate eating (no meals after noon)
No watching theater, dancing or singing
No physical ornamentation
no use of high or wide beds
no accepting money, precious metal or jewels
compare kama yoga in Hinduism
not just sex, but other forbidden practices, like eating meat
no longer practiced in modern Tibetan Buddhism
yoga (meditation)
Zen Buddhism
related to Taoism
koans
Pure Land
Amida Buddha
similarity to Christianity
salvation by faith
Loose ends
Buddhist nuns
established by the Buddha
no ordained nuns in Theravada
hierodules in some south east Asian Mahayana traditions
Excursus on hierodules (cult prostitutes)
ritual sex partner -- representative of the Goddess in union with devotee who represents the god
common in ancient polytheistic fertility cults (esp. Mesopotamia)
some evidence that priests (probably castrati [eunuchs]) served this function for married women (or widows) as well
still practiced (rarely) in Hinduism where the union invokes the power of Shiva/Shakti
Special terms:
parinirvana
arhat
Maitreya
the next Buddha
bodhisattva
in Theravada:
Buddha in prior incarnations
in Mahayana
enlightened one takes vow to keep coming back until all are enlightened
Reading
WR, pp. 250-333 (Buddhism)
WR, pp. 334-354 (Sikhism)