RELB 2100 Lecture 2: Class2(8.30)- basics of Buddha's early life
4 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Changes in buddhism due to these 3 things: Eastern not characterized by brahmin, sramana is emphasized there. Sramana means to strive for knowledge, it means labor. Widespread cultural complex, looked to figures who were on the road to discovery and experiments of practices to improve themselves. Sramana culture is tied to cities, it is itinerant (the people don"t identify with one place as their home) Allegiance not tied to race, ethnicity, or place. Ideal is set by their own philosophical standards. Buddhism is like a way of life, like a skill. Buddhism is dedicating yourself to a form of life. You change your social standing in the world. Sramana gives us a social norms of how we are living. For most people we identify ourselves by circumstances of birth, marriage, and our children. We typically act on the basis of our generation based on our parents or our children. Sramana creates new social forms; rejects biological forms.
