Buddhism explain

I. Non-theistic religion
a. Central figure is Siddharta Gautama
b. Buddha- enlightened one, awakened one, one who knows
c. He is also called Buddha Sakyamuni “he hailed from the shakyan people who resided in the northern
parts of India and Nepal.
d. A buddist looks to the buddha’s teachings in order to attain enlightenment but does not worship him as
a god.
e. Non-theistic religion, gods (devas) exist and encourages respect toward them, and adheres that they are
not to be worshiped,
II. Sources of knowledge about Buddha and his teachings
a. Scriptural canon- a list of books that define matters of doctrine and discipline.
b. Suttas- contain discourses between the Buddha and his disciples (sutras in Sanskrit)
c. 3 major schools
i. Theravada
1. Pali canon- oldest, the language is close to the actual one used by Buddha
2. Also called the Tipitaka (three baskets)
3. It is the authoritative list of books adopted
4. Contains Sutta-pitaka(saying of the Buddha), Vinaya-pitaka (monastic rules of conduct)
and Abhidhamma-pitaka (philosophical writings)
ii. Mahayana
1. Authoritative writings similar to pali canon but with additional body of authoritative
literature from other sources
2. Broader audience
3. Translated to chinese, japanese, and Korean
4. Chinese canon (Ta-ts’ang-ching) produced in the province of Szechuan
5. It divided into agamas (similar to Pali canon), vinayas (rules for monastic conduct), and
Abidhamma (philosophical writings)
iii. Vajrayana school
1. It has the most recent body of scriptural texts, which translated to Tibetan.
2. The writings are not Buddhist in character but necessary in the practice of the teachings.
3. Tibetan canon: divided into two
a. bKangjur (Kanjur) believed to be the words of buddha
b. bStan’gyur (tanjur) elaborations of the buddha’s teaching
iv. Triple Gem
1. Buddha—Dhamma—sangha.
a. Take refuge is a profession of one’s faith and an intention to put oneself under
another’s protection.
b. Dhamma means truth, refers to the teaching of Buddha
c. Sangha- refers to the monastic order founded by the Buddha
v. The Five Precepts
1. I take the precept to abstain from destroying living beings (killing)
2. I take the precept to abstain from taking things not given (stealing)
3. I take the precept to abstain from sexual misconduct
4. I take the precept to abstain from false speech (lying)
5. I take the precept to abstain from anything that causes intoxication or heedlessness
(getting drunk or using illegal drugs)
vi. The four noble truths
1. Life is suffering (dukkha)
2. There is suffering because there is desire
3. In order to get rid of suffering, one has to get rid of desire
4. There is a path that leads from suffering (the eightfold path)
vii.

The path Pali original Meaning

The right view Samma-ditthi Awareness of the law of
 karma and the four noble
truths
Right thought Samma-