PHI 2389 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Gautama Buddha, Bodhi Tree, Dukkha
20 Aug 2016
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PHI 2389 lecture 8?
October 5th 2015
What the Buddha Taught: Noble Truths
-monastic religion originally
-buddha: awakened or enlightened one
-attracted monks (monks don’t reproduce, therefore Buddhism died out in India)
-one hypothesis is Buddhism died out since it couldn’t attract enough people
-was long lived in India; were Buddhist rulers for a very long time
-concerned with the doctrines of brahman and atman and reject these concepts
-there is no substance or steady being or any single steady self
-no ‘things’
-made judgements about the basic character of life and how to confront/resolve the deepest
problems
-assumed that life is problematic
-Siddhartha Gautama was the first buddha, living in 5th century BCE
-born a prince
-prophecy was that he would renounce the world and become a holy man
-his father decided to shelter him as much as possible from the bad things in life so that he
wouldn't have any impulse to become religious
-brought up in a very sheltered palace environment and was given everything anyone could
ever want
-gets married, has a son; is as fortunate as one could possibly be in the world
-for all his life up until his early adulthood he had never left the palace grounds
-upon leaving for the first time in a carriage, he sees the four sights:
-an old man: is astonished since he has never seen someone in this stage of life
-stunned this happened to everyone
-a sick man: has never seen any disease before
-stunned this happens to everyone
-a dead man: has never seen death before
-stunned this happens to everyone
-a monk: has never seen someone meditating
-learns about the path to immorality and enlightenment
-having seen these sights, he cannot go back to the palace in contentment
-abandons his wife, son and kingdom
-becomes an ascetic (extreme self mortification, fasting, etc)
-he rejects too much indulgence or too much austerity/abstinence; argues for the middle
way between these extremes
-makes progress but does not find the answer that is posed by old age, disease and death
-does not find liberation yet; gets frustrated and decides to sit under a tree until he dies or
finds the answer
-sits under the bodhi tree; while he is here he is tempted by Mara (demonic figure who
offers wealth, power, etc)
-Gautama already had these things and knows these things do not stand up to disease or
death and rejects them
-he then becomes enlightened and becomes buddha
-he then teaches the four noble truths
-legend tries to communicate what this philosophy is about and what problem it responds to
(not supposed to be taken literally)
-differences from the story of Jesus:
-buddha never finds a god at the end of the story
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Document Summary
Attracted monks (monks don"t reproduce, therefore buddhism died out in india) One hypothesis is buddhism died out since it couldn"t attract enough people. Was long lived in india; were buddhist rulers for a very long time. Concerned with the doctrines of brahman and atman and reject these concepts. There is no substance or steady being or any single steady self. Made judgements about the basic character of life and how to confront/resolve the deepest problems. Siddhartha gautama was the rst buddha, living in 5th century bce. Prophecy was that he would renounce the world and become a holy man. His father decided to shelter him as much as possible from the bad things in life so that he wouldn"t have any impulse to become religious. Brought up in a very sheltered palace environment and was given everything anyone could ever want. Gets married, has a son; is as fortunate as one could possibly be in the world.
