BUDDHISM- THE DHARMA Flashcards
(20 cards)
Dharma:
The spiritual laws of the universe; The Buddha’s teachings.
The Three Marks of Existence
The three characteristics of existence: Anicca, dukkha, and anatta
Three Refuges:
The three guiding ideals of Buddhist life: the Buddha; the dharma; and the sangha.
What is the dharma?
D: Discovered by the Buddha – the Dharma is the universal laws of existence, which the Buddha understood at the moment of his enlightenment.
H: Human life – for Buddhists, human life can only be properly be understood in the light of the dharma.
A: Accept these truths – For Buddhists, accepting the truths of the dharma, at a deep psychological level, is a necessary step to attaining nirvana.
R: Refuges – the dharma is one of the three refuges that Buddhists commit to help them on the path to Nirvana
M : Marks of existence and dependent origination - The dharma consists of the Buddha’s teachings on these concepts [at least for our exam board].
A: Analogy of the Raft – the Buddha compared the Dharma to a raft, suggesting that it is simply a useful vehicle for accomplishing a journey (i.e. to nirvana)
*Anicca:
Impermanence.
Samsara:
The endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
Four Sights:
The things the Buddha saw that started his religious journey: Old age; sickness; a corpse; an ascetic
What is anicca?
A: All things are impermanent - Anicca can be translated as “impermanence”. It is the Buddha’s teaching that all things, including the self, are impermanent and constantly changing.
N: Nothing remains the same – According to the teaching of anicca, even mountains are constrantly changing, by growing and eroding
I: Illustrated by the human body – Anicca could be illustrated by the human body: our bodies are constantly changing, as can be seen if you look at an old photo of yourself.
C: Cling to things as if they were permanent – humans struggle to accept change, and we cling to things as if they were permanent.
C: Contradiction causes suffering – suffering arises when our clinging is confronted or contradicted by the reality of change.
A: Accept to reach nirvana – acceptance of the truth of anicca is necessary to remove suffering, and to help Buddhists reach nirvana.
Dukkha:
Suffering or “unsatisfactoriness.”
Four Noble Truths:
The Buddha’s most basic teachings, which set out the causes of suffering and the route to overcoming suffering.
Nirvana:
The ultimate goal for Buddhists: breaking free of samsara and suffering
What is dukkha?
S: “Suffering” or “unsatisfactoriness”. Dukkha covers everything from the most serious forms of suffering, such as cancer, to the most trivial ways that life disappoints us.
U: Unavoidable. The Buddha taught that suffering is an unavoidable “fact” of existence in the cycle of samara.
F: Four sights illustrate dukkha. Old age, sickness, and death are forms of suffering that we all have to face in life. When the Buddha saw these things for the first time, he realised that suffering was inevitable.
F: First Noble Truth. Dukkha is the First Noble truth of Buddhism, so it could be said to be the starting point of the Buddhist religion.
E: Escaping suffering is the purpose of Buddhism. Escaping suffering, by breaking free from samsara and attaining nirvana, could be said to be the purpose of the Buddhist religion.
R: Related to anicca and anatta. Buddhist believe that if we do not understand anicca and anatta, this will lead to suffering.
*Anatta:
No permanent self.
*Skandhas:
The five impermanent “parts” or “aggregates” which humans are made of
Soul:
The spiritual aspect of a person, believed in many religions to be our “true self.”
What is anatta?
N: No self – Anatta is the Buddha’s teaching that there is no unchanging self or soul within living beings.
O: Only a bundle of parts – humans and other living beings are a bundle of ever-changing physical and mental parts (skandhas).
S: School analogy – one thing to compare this to is the way schools are always changing, e.g. students and staff join and leave
E: Ego is an illusion – we have an idea of an ego, but if we examine this carefully, we realise that this is just an illusion. This leads to craving as we want to be popular, successful etc. When our ego gets hurt, we suffer.
L: Links to the idea of anicca – anatta could be said to be anicca applied to human nature.
F: Freedom. We need to free ourselves from the illusion of the self. If we do this we will no longer crave, which means we will no longer suffer.
Karma:
Sanskrit word meaning “action”, or “actions and their consequences”.
*Pratityasamutpada
Sanskrit word meaning “dependent origination”.
Nidanas:
The twelve “links” in the chain of cause and effect
What is pratityasamutpada?
C: Chain of cause and effect – this is the idea that all things that exist were caused by other things.
H: Human life - For Buddhists, our actions in life create karma, this karma conditions a new life after our death. If we have a bad rebirth, this is not random, but a result of previous (bad) actions.
A: Attain nirvana – to attain nirvana it is necessary to break the “links” of dependent origination, by eliminating craving.
I: Interconnected – Dependent origination highlights the interconnectedness of all things. Somebody driving like an idiot might put me in a bad mood. This has consequences for me, but also for everyone I interact with while I am angry.
N: Nidanas –The Tibetan Wheel of Life depicts dependent origination as twelve nidanas or “links” in a cycle, each leading to the next.
S: Samsara – Dependent origination keeps beings trapped in the cycle of samsara. The “links” must be broken to escape samsara and reach nirvana. This is done by overcoming craving
