MMW 11 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Four Noble Truths, Bodhisattva Vow, Hatha Yoga
14 Dec 2016
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Outline Lecture Thirteen—The Buddha’s Wisdom of Compassion
Key Terms for Today’s Lecture:
Bodhisattva Buddha Law of Dependent Origination
Four Noble Truths Eightfold Path Dharma Sangha
Bodhisattva – enlightened being who is on the path to be enlightened
Buddha – enlightened one
Dharma – teachings of Buddha laws
I) The Sakyamuni Buddha: Siddhartha Gautama (566-486 B.C.E.)
a) Common Misconceptions
i) What he was not
He was not a god. He never presented himself as anything legendary
He just happens to be the Buddha related to our world ah hueeahhh
b) “An Insuperable Quest for Truth”
i) Compare to other quests for wisdom we have seen
Job, Confucius, vs Siddhartha’s was motivated by compassion for all living things
like animals, human, etc
ii) Cultivating wisdom to overcome universal suffering
(1) A “paradigmatic personality” of “what a human could or should be”
Paradigmatic personality - what a human could/should be
c) Bodhisattva in Tushita Heaven
Lifespan in Tushita Heaven – 4000 years, human time 1.5 million years o_o
Basically you can’t think of a better place to be enlightened
i) Instructor to 100,000 other bodhisattvas
(1) A bodhisattva’s “penultimate existence” before becoming a Buddha
ii) Why leave this “heavenly campus of enlightenment” for the “earthly ghetto of
suffering”?
He chose to be reborn in this world
(1) Bodhisattva vow to release all sentient beings from suffering
d) Life in Kapilavatsu
Modern day in the foothills of Nepal, himalayas
i) Kingdom of the Sakyas
ii) The Miraculous Birth
Dream – Queen Maya danced w/ a white elephant & found out next day that she was
pregnant.
iii) The prediction of the seer Asita
Asita confirmed that he could become a worldly authority (universal monarch) and unify
the world, or become a Buddha. But the father wanted the powerful monarch, not some
spiritual figure
iv) The Veil of Ephemeral Pleasures
(1) Sensual attachments
(2) Sense of duty to father
v) Four Encounters
He encounters the aging, sickness, death, mendicant for the first time
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Bodhisattva enlightened being who is on the path to be enlightened. Dharma teachings of buddha laws: the sakyamuni buddha: siddhartha gautama (566-486 b. c. e. ) Sangha: common misconceptions, what he was not. He just happens to be the buddha related to our world ah hueeahhh: an insuperable quest for truth , compare to other quests for wisdom we have seen. Job, confucius, vs siddhartha"s was motivated by compassion for all living things like animals, human, etc: cultivating wisdom to overcome universal suffering (1) a paradigmatic personality of what a human could or should be . Paradigmatic personality - what a human could/should be: bodhisattva in tushita heaven. Lifespan in tushita heaven 4000 years, human time 1. 5 million years o_o. He chose to be reborn in this world (1) bodhisattva vow to release all sentient beings from suffering: life in kapilavatsu. Modern day in the foothills of nepal, himalayas: kingdom of the sakyas, the miraculous birth.
