Religious Studies 1023E Lecture 2: Lecture 2 - Indian Buddhism

• School: Western University
• Department: Religious Studies
• Course: Religious Studies 1023E
• Professor: Mahdi Tourage

Document Summary

Y buddha is not the first buddha, he is one of many: met dipankara (past buddha) and wanted to be like him. Indian buddhism 2 y what did the buddha teach/talk about: middle path (no harsh asceticism) treat body with respect, mind wont be clear enough for enlightenment. nirvana (means blown out: human existence not good suffering. thing in way of achieving nirvana distraction: speculative philosophical questions. 6 months in order, buddha didn t answer his questions. buddha refused, questions you have are endless, wont get you closer to nirvana. like a man shot in the leg with a poison arm, only reasonable thing to do is pull it out and wont pull it out until he knows who shot him, his family, lineage, etc. He would die before he got all the answers.