RG ST 3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Four Noble Truths, Skandha, Theravada
"school of the elders"
•
Found in Southeast Asia - Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, etc.
•
Fundamental doctrines of Buddhism
•
Sramana Concepts
"cyclic existence" (samsara): uncontrolled birth and rebirth
○
Moral and/or ritual conduct (karma)
○
"liberation" (moksha) from this cycle
○
•
Concepts are shared by Buddhists ^^
Tibetan wheel of life shows the destinations that a person can end
up in as a result of their karma
○
•
Background
Buddhism agrees that there is samsara/cyclic existence
○
Buddhism focuses on a notion of "suffering" and universalizes it
All human conditions lead to suffering
§
○
Suffering has a cause which is a craving or thirst (trsna)
○
Must practice spiritual discipline to be released from this cycle of
suffering and rebirth
○
Serious followers of Buddhism renounce lay life and become
wandering ascetics
○
Not all laypeople could follow this example, so they took refuge in
the Three Jewels. Anyone who wanted to follow the Buddhist path
would follow this "formula".
Buddha (the teacher)
§
Dharma (the teachings
§
Sangha (followers)
§
○
•
Dharma = Teachings
These teachings were centered around Sakyamuni's enlightenment
(bodhi) experience
○
Core teachings are the Four Noble Truths
Suffering (duhkha)
§
Cause of suffering (samudaya)
§
Cessation of suffering (nirodha)
§
Path (marga): 8-Fold Noble Path
This is the Eightfold Path summarized into the "3
Trainings
Morality/ethics (sila)
Right speech, action, livelihood
◊
Ethical conduct calms the mind and reduces
distractions
◊
Laypeople observe five precepts: (don't do
these things because they lead to suffering)
No killing
}
No stealing
}
No lying
}
No intoxicants
}
No sexual misconduct
}
◊
Monks and nuns observe stricter vows
◊
Moral sets the stage for meditation and calms
the mind
◊
®
Meditation/concentration (samadhi)
Right effort, mindfulness, concentration
◊
Meditation refers to "mental development"
◊
Main methods are calming and insight
◊
Techniques include breathing awareness and
loving-kindness
Emotional state reinforced by
cultivating relationships
}
◊
"insight" (vipassana) meditations often focus
on impermanence, conditionality, causation
Leading ultimately to nirvana
}
◊
"calming" meditation usually precedes insight
meditation
◊
®
Wisdom/insight (prajna)
Right thought, understanding
◊
Wisdom is the means of attaining nirvana or
enlightenment thru understanding true
nature of things
◊
Opposite to "ignorance" (avidya)
◊
Existence is said to have three marks (tri-
laksana)
◊
Impermanence (anitya)
Nothing is permanent or lasts
forever.. Everything changes
–
All compounded phenomena
(things and experiences) are
inconstant, unsteady, unreliable,
and thus impermanent
–
Everything is made up of parts,
dependent on causes and
conditions for its existence
–
Everything is in constant flux --
conditions and the thing itself are
constantly changing
–
}
Suffering (duhkha)
Suffering of suffering
Pain, old age, illness, death,
grief
w
–
Suffering of change
Violated expectations,
disappointment,
impermanence of happiness
w
–
Suffering of conditioned states
Subtle form of suffering
arising as a reaction to
qualities of conditioned
things
w
–
}
Not-self (anatman)
There is no permanent self or soul
(going against almost every other
religious tradition)
–
Self does not exist
–
Buddhism denies the existence of
a permanent entity that remains
constant behind changing mental
and physical components of a
living being
–
Just as body changes from
moment to moment, so thoughts
come and go
–
According to anatman doctrine,
there is no permanent conscious
substance that experiences these
thoughts
–
Personality" analyzed into 5
psycho-physical transitory
aggregates (skandhas)
Five Aggregates (skandhas)
Physical form (rupa)
Refers to bodies
and external
phenomena
▪
Composed of the
four elements
▪
□
Feeling/sensation
(vedana)
Pleasant,
unpleasant,
neutral
w
□
Perception/recognition
(samjna)
Discerning
between specific
objects
w
□
Karmic formations
(samskara)
Emotions,
motivations,
mental states
w
□
Consciousness
(vijnana)
Consciousness of
sense impressions
and mental
objects
w
□
w
–
}
®
□
§
○
•
Eightfold Path
Right speech
○
Right action
○
Right livelihood
○
Right effort
○
Right Mindfulness
○
Right concentration
○
Right thought
○
Right understanding
○
•
h•
Lecture 9: Theravada Buddhism
Monday, April 30, 2018
11:01 AM
"school of the elders"•
Found in Southeast Asia - Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, etc.•
Fundamental doctrines of Buddhism•
Sramana Concepts
"cyclic existence" (samsara): uncontrolled birth and rebirth
○
Moral and/or ritual conduct (karma)
○
"liberation" (moksha) from this cycle
○
•
Concepts are shared by Buddhists ^^
Tibetan wheel of life shows the destinations that a person can end
up in as a result of their karma
○
•
Background
Buddhism agrees that there is samsara/cyclic existence
○
Buddhism focuses on a notion of "suffering" and universalizes it
All human conditions lead to suffering
§
○
Suffering has a cause which is a craving or thirst (trsna)
○
Must practice spiritual discipline to be released from this cycle of
suffering and rebirth
○
Serious followers of Buddhism renounce lay life and become
wandering ascetics
○
Not all laypeople could follow this example, so they took refuge in
the Three Jewels. Anyone who wanted to follow the Buddhist path
would follow this "formula".
Buddha (the teacher)
§
Dharma (the teachings
§
Sangha (followers)
§
○
•
Dharma = Teachings
These teachings were centered around Sakyamuni's enlightenment
(bodhi) experience
○
Core teachings are the Four Noble Truths
Suffering (duhkha)
§
Cause of suffering (samudaya)
§
Cessation of suffering (nirodha)
§
Path (marga): 8-Fold Noble Path
This is the Eightfold Path summarized into the "3
Trainings
Morality/ethics (sila)
Right speech, action, livelihood
◊
Ethical conduct calms the mind and reduces
distractions
◊
Laypeople observe five precepts: (don't do
these things because they lead to suffering)
No killing
}
No stealing
}
No lying
}
No intoxicants
}
No sexual misconduct
}
◊
Monks and nuns observe stricter vows
◊
Moral sets the stage for meditation and calms
the mind
◊
®
Meditation/concentration (samadhi)
Right effort, mindfulness, concentration
◊
Meditation refers to "mental development"
◊
Main methods are calming and insight
◊
Techniques include breathing awareness and
loving-kindness
Emotional state reinforced by
cultivating relationships
}
◊
"insight" (vipassana) meditations often focus
on impermanence, conditionality, causation
Leading ultimately to nirvana
}
◊
"calming" meditation usually precedes insight
meditation
◊
®
Wisdom/insight (prajna)
Right thought, understanding
◊
Wisdom is the means of attaining nirvana or
enlightenment thru understanding true
nature of things
◊
Opposite to "ignorance" (avidya)
◊
Existence is said to have three marks (tri-
laksana)
◊
Impermanence (anitya)
Nothing is permanent or lasts
forever.. Everything changes
–
All compounded phenomena
(things and experiences) are
inconstant, unsteady, unreliable,
and thus impermanent
–
Everything is made up of parts,
dependent on causes and
conditions for its existence
–
Everything is in constant flux --
conditions and the thing itself are
constantly changing
–
}
Suffering (duhkha)
Suffering of suffering
Pain, old age, illness, death,
grief
w
–
Suffering of change
Violated expectations,
disappointment,
impermanence of happiness
w
–
Suffering of conditioned states
Subtle form of suffering
arising as a reaction to
qualities of conditioned
things
w
–
}
Not-self (anatman)
There is no permanent self or soul
(going against almost every other
religious tradition)
–
Self does not exist
–
Buddhism denies the existence of
a permanent entity that remains
constant behind changing mental
and physical components of a
living being
–
Just as body changes from
moment to moment, so thoughts
come and go
–
According to anatman doctrine,
there is no permanent conscious
substance that experiences these
thoughts
–
Personality" analyzed into 5
psycho-physical transitory
aggregates (skandhas)
Five Aggregates (skandhas)
Physical form (rupa)
Refers to bodies
and external
phenomena
▪
Composed of the
four elements
▪
□
Feeling/sensation
(vedana)
Pleasant,
unpleasant,
neutral
w
□
Perception/recognition
(samjna)
Discerning
between specific
objects
w
□
Karmic formations
(samskara)
Emotions,
motivations,
mental states
w
□
Consciousness
(vijnana)
Consciousness of
sense impressions
and mental
objects
w
□
w
–
}
®
□
§
○
•
Eightfold Path
Right speech
○
Right action
○
Right livelihood
○
Right effort
○
Right Mindfulness
○
Right concentration
○
Right thought
○
Right understanding
○
•
h•
Lecture 9: Theravada Buddhism
Monday, April 30, 2018 11:01 AM
