Buddhism Flashcards
(31 cards)
What were the four sights?
As Siddhartha Gautama left his palace to explore the surrounding city he saw four sights:
A sick man
An old person
A dead person
A holy man - The holy man seemed calm and serene even among all the chaos around him, this made Siddhartha curious and he realised that his own path in life should be one of understanding, not the privilege and responsibility of royalty.
How did Siddhartha reach enlightenment?
Siddhartha sat under a Bodhi tree and meditated for 49 days. As he meditated, a demon named Mara tempted him with a beautiful woman and threatened him with an army of monsters. However, Siddhartha did not give in.
What is Samsara?
Samsara is the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
All Buddhists attain to escape this cycle by becoming enlightened.
When a Buddhist attains enlightenment they no longer have to live a life of suffering as their soul will never be reborn.
What is Nirvana?
When someone reaches Nirvana, their soul has been blown out and they are freed from suffering. Enlightenment is necessary to attain Nirvana.
What are the Three Jewels?
The Dhamma - The Buddha’s teachings
The Sangha - The Buddhist Monastic order, monks, nuns, lay men, lay women.
The Buddha - The enlightened one
What is dependent origination?
The idea that nothing exists without something else causing it to exist, everything is dependent for its origin on something else.
What is conditionality?
Because existence is dependent on previous factors, it is conditional. One thing can only happen because of other things causing it to exist.
What are the three marks of existence?
Anicca - Means impermanence, nothing in the universe is fixed, nothing stays the same and everything will change.
Anatta - Means no self, as everything in the universe changes, so do humans, people might believe that our personalities are fixed but that isn’t true.
Dukkha - Means the unsatisfactoriness of existence, refers to the fact that people suffer, life is unsatisfactory, it brings pain and suffering, fear and longing.
What are the four noble truths?
Dukkha - life is unsatisfactory
Samudaya - Suffering is caused by craving
Nirodha - An end to craving is an end to suffering
Magga - To end craving, follow the Buddha’s path
What are the different types of suffering?
Dukkha-Dukkha - The suffering of suffering
Viparinama-Dukkha - The suffering of change
Sankhara-Dukkha - The suffering of existence
What are the three types of cravings?
Kama-Tanha - Craving pleasure of the senses, wealth or power
Bhava-Tanha - Craving for a fixed identity or existence and not accepting that life is impermanent
Vibhava-Tanha - Craving to avoid pain and suffering, to avoid the reality of rebirth
What are the three poisons?
Greed
Hatred
Ignorance
What are the differences of understanding of enlightenment between Mahayana and Theravada?
Mahayana Buddhists follow the path of the Bodhisattva, a being that has attained enlightenment but has stayed in the cycle of samsara until all other beings have been freed from it.
Theravada Buddhists follow the path of an Arhat, who has attained enlightenment through perfect understanding and perfect compassion.
What is the Threefold Way?
Buddha taught that the path to Nirvana involves three main approaches:
Ethics - people who follow the Dhamma must live in a way that minimises harm and develops love, courage and kindness.
Meditation - Helps people to have a clear conscience and calm mind, allowing effective meditation.
Wisdom - Meditation is the basis of achieving understanding, or wisdom.
What are the aspects of the Eightfold Path?
Right speech
Right action
Right livelihood
Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right concentration
Right understanding
Right intention
What are the five Khandas (Aggregates)
A human is understood to be a combination of five elements:
Form or body
Consciousness
Sensation
Thoughts
Perception
What is Buddha nature (Tathagatagarbha)
Means that within all humans is a potential Buddha, or the potential to become enlightened.
What are the six perfections (paramitas)?
Mahayana belief, once you have attained the six perfections you become a Bodhisattva:
Perfect morality
Perfect patience
Perfect energy
Perfect wisdom
Perfect meditation
Perfect generosity
What is Karma?
Means that all actions have consequences, positive or negative, increasing positive Karma can mean a favourable rebirth in the Cycle of Samsara.
What is Karuna?
Means compassion, one way to avoid Samsara. It’s the desire to see an end to all beings’ sufferings. However, this is all contrasted with pity, a desire to see an end to others’ sufferings to relieve one’s own sadness
What is Metta?
Means loving kindness, involves developing a perfect attitude of love towards others
What are the five moral precepts?
Rules that all Buddhists should follow, whether they are monks and nuns or not:
Do not harm living things
Do not take what is given
Do not engage in sexual misconduct
Do not engage in lying or gossip
Do not take intoxicating substances
What are the different forms of Buddhist worship?
Meditation - Helps grow their wisdom, compassion and deep understanding, which are essential to achieving enlightenment.
Chanting - Preparation for meditation, can chant alone or together, helps them enter a calm, meditative state of mind on their own path to enlightenment.
Mantras - Phrases that are chanted, prepares the mind for meditation or evokes the calm wisdom of enlightenment. Buddhists use malas or prayer beads to keep count when chanting.
Puja - Means worship or adoration, sign of commitment to the Buddhist path, the Dhamma, or a Buddha or Bodhisattva.
Offerings (next flashcard)
What are common offerings in Buddhist worship?
Food - Show respect to the Buddha by treating him as an honoured guest
Incense - When burned, the sweet smell fills the room, and this spread of smell symbolises the spread of the Buddha’s teachings
Flowers - Represents impermanence
Lit candles - Symbolise wisdom and their significance is to help Buddhists drive away ignorance.
