BUDDHISM – class

summary
to Friday 3 March 2023
RELS 200 L01 W23
Department of Classics and Religion, University of Calgary
© George Ferzoco 2023
Buddhism
Founder – Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563–483 BCE)
Title – The Buddha (the Enlightened One, the Awakened One)
GODS
originally nontheistic, since gods were irrelevant in solving the human
dilemma

eventually devotional aspects became prominent; relics, images, and

temples of the Buddha became sources of merit and focal points of
prayer
LOCATION
Northern India and Nepal

Spread throughout all of Indian subcontinent and eastward

Now mainly in India, Sri Lanka, SE Asia and East Asian nations
Relation to other religions
Protest against Vedic (Hindu) religion, in particular:
• Rejection of caste system
• Rejection of authority of the Vedas
BUT
Retain ideas of
• karma
• rebirth
• liberation (called nirvana by Buddhists)
Main Emphases
The Three Refuges:
- Buddha (teacher)
- Dharma (teaching)
- Sangha (community)
 Background

Shramanas - like wandering philosophers

Darshana – worldview, both religious AND philosophical

 Life of Siddhartha Gautama
(a.k.a. The Buddha)
Lived to be 80 years old, but when did he live?

¿¿¿ (c. 563–483 BCE) ??? (or d. as recently as 267 BCE)

b. Lumbini, in present-day Nepal

Caste: Royal? Warrior?

Life of Siddhartha Gautama
(a.k.a. The Buddha) – continued

Age 29 – renounced inheritance; ascetic life

New path – a middle way

Nirvana – attained at age 35

Rest of life: wandering through Ganges valley and plain

Sangha – the Buddhist community

Viharas – evolved from temporary accommodations for wandering

Hindu holy people to a permanent structure to house Buddhist
monks/nuns
Emperor Ashoka
Erected stone pillars throughout empire

stupas – funerary mounds

 Legendary Life of the Buddha
NOTE: different versions give different
details
Hagiographies – written c.300-c.100 BCE

• Born to Queen Maya and King Shuddhodana, in a grove in modern-

day Lumbini
• Named ‘Siddhartha’, ‘he whose purpose is perfection’
• Mother died a week later
• Married princess Yashodora; son Rahula
Legendary Life of the Buddha (continued)
The Four Sights (these differ according to which hagiography is read)

•very old man

•horribly diseased person
•corpse
•mendicant shramana who had found freedom from the terrible
condition of humanity
Legendary Life of the Buddha (continued)
The Great Renunciation

• age 29 – left palace and family, cut hair, became and dressed as a
renouncer

• asceticism

• The Middle Way – reached while sitting under a fig tree

Main Teaching
Four Noble Truths
Teach about suffering and its cure
- Condition is suffering
- Cause is desire (craving)
- Cure is elimination of desire
- Course to liberation is the Eightfold Path
- Parinirvana
- The Buddha’s final words: ‘All phenomena are transient. Persevere
with awareness.’
THREE PITAKAS (baskets)

Vinaya Pitaka – monastic rules

Sutra Pitaka – the definitive collection of Theravada scripture

Abhidharma Pitaka – scholastic studies of the Buddha’s teachings

Hierarchy
Monks (male and female)

Laity
Subgroups – Theravada – closest to original
• c.38 % - strongest in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos
and Burma (Myanmar). It is sometimes called 'Southern
Buddhism'.
• 'the doctrine of the elders’ (= senior Buddhist monks)
Subgroups - Mahayana
• c.50% of Buddhists
• strongest in Tibet, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia
• not a single group but a collection of Buddhist traditions: Zen, Pure
Land, Tibetan among others
Subgroups - Vajrayana
• c. 6%
• one may reach enlightenment in a single lifetime, via spiritual tools
such as visualization and mantra, breath and physical exercises (instead
of taking many lifetimes via meditation, morality, compassion, etc.)
SHORT VIDEO – FOOD FOR ALL
• Please follow the link - https://vimeo.com/103541223 - and study this short
video.
• In Sri Lanka ‘generosity stalls’ have been for many centuries a significant
component of Buddhist festivals (e.g., commemorating the Buddha's birth,
awakening and death). The ancient kings provided free food, drink and
medicine for their citizens on festival days. In modern Sri Lanka a generosity
stall can be set up by anyone. Often neighbours or friends team up to
collect money and organize the preparation of food and its distribution.
These food stalls offer anything from soft drinks and ice cream to full meals
of rice and curry. It is not only Buddhists who enjoy the free food or get
involved in the organization of a dansal but also Hindus, Christians and
Muslims.