blog 20

1) Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha and founded Buddhism.
2) The Four Passing Signs were an old man (sickness), a sick man (suffering), a dead man (death), and an ascetic (a way to escape the pain of the world).
3) The Middle Way is a teaching that says that the way to enlightenment is to avoid extremes.
4) Gautama gained enlightenment after resisting temptations from Mara and his daughters.
5) The Sangha is a Buddhist monastic community composed of both men and women.
6) The Three Jewels of Buddhism are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
7) Samsara, “the wheel of rebirth,” is common to both Buddhism and Hinduism cosmology.
8) The Buddha did not approve of the Hindu philosophy and the sacrificial rituals that the brahmin performed.
9) The Three Marks of Existence are no-self, impermanence, and suffering. They are related because they are symbolized by the Four Passing Signs.
10) The doctrine of anatta is the existence of the “no-self.” It is the opposite of the Hindu concept of Atman.
11) In samsara, a person’s energy is passed from one body to the next. Karma determines what type of body the energy will go to in its next life.
12) For all Buddhists: Do not take life; Do not take what is not given; Do not engage in sensuous misconduct; Do not use false speech; Do not drink intoxicants. For Buddhist monks: Do not eat after noon; Do not watch dancing of shows; Do not use garlands perfumes, or ornaments; Do not use a high or soft bed; Do not accept gold or silver.
13) Dukkha can be translated as “suffering,” “frustration,” “dislocation,” or “discomfort.”
14) Tanha is desire, thirst, or craving. Tanha leads to dukkha.
15) The Nobel Eightfold Path consists of the following teachings: Perfect Vision, Perfect Emotion, Perfect Speech, Perfect Action, Perfect Livelihood Perfect Effort, Perfect Awareness, and Perfect Meditation.
16) The Buddha serves as a reminder and example of how to become enlightened while others who become enlightened are merely following in his path.
17) An arhat is a person who has become enlightened but is still alive and has not entered into nirvana.
18) Nirvana means “blowing out.” Nirvana is the end to, or blowing out of, suffering and pain.
19) The three divisions of Buddhism are the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana.
20) The main focus of Theravada Buddhism is the teachings of the Buddha.
21) Mahayana means the “greater vehicle.” This implies that Mahayana Buddhism is more relatable to the majority of Buddhists than the other sects of Buddhism are.