Buddhism and Wesak
The Three Refuges (Jewels)
The Buddha The Dharma (teachings)
The Sangha (Community)
The Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama
(563-483 BC)
Born as a prince Saw the realities of life and then left the Palace Experimented with asceticism and rejected it Became enlightened Taught for the next 45 years Died as a human being at the age of 80
The Major Buddhist Traditions
Theravada (“The Way of the Elders”) - Sri Lanka &
Southeast Asia
Mahayana (“The Greater Vehicle”) - China, Korea, &
Japan (& Tibet & Mongolia)
Vajrayana (“The Way of the Diamond Thunderbolt”) Tibet & Mongolia
Vajrayana is a development within the Mahayana tradition.
SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA C.500BCE
THERAVADA BUDDHISM
380 BCE
MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
475 CE
CH’AN
VAJRAYANA BUDDHISM
1200 CE
RINZAI ZEN
SOTO ZEN
The Spread of Buddhism
Buddhism out of India by 1000 AD
Spheres of Influence
Theravada Mahayana Vajrayana
A very few statistics
Buddhism and Ethnicity in Britain: The 2001 Census Data
The 2001 Census data gave two important headline figures for Buddhists in Britain. There were said to be 144,453 Buddhists in England and Wales (0.27757% of the population of 52,041,916), and 152,000 Buddhists in the UK as a whole (0.25855% of the population of 58,789,000).
Ethnicity of Buddhists in the UK Ethnicity Percentage Numbers 38.79 3.22 9.64 1.04 23.75 23.56 59000 4900 14600 1600 36100 35800
White Mixed Asian or Asian British Black or Black British Chinese Other Ethnic Group
All Buddhists
100.0 152,000
Wesak
is the most important of the Buddhist festivals and is celebrated on the full moon in May. It celebrates the Buddha's birthday, and, for some Buddhists, also marks his birth and death. literally means 'one who is awake' and has become enlightened. It is a term that denotes a person who has attained the supreme wisdom and compassion of Enlightenment.
Buddha
To
Buddhists Enlightenment is a blessed state in which the individual attains Nirvana - the transcendence of desire and suffering.
Celebrations The festival is celebrated with much colour and gaiety. Homes may be cleaned and decorated. In Thailand, for example, special Wesak lanterns are made of paper and wood, and often there a large ceremonial releases of caged birds. In many countries during the festival, Buddhists will visit their local temple for services and teaching, and will give offerings to the monks of food, candles and flowers.
Chinese Buddhists incorporate elements of their country's culture into their religious celebrations like the traditional dancing dragons. Gifts are taken to an altar to be offered to the Buddha statues. This shows respect and gratitude to the Buddha for his life and teachings. If there is food it is usually vegetarian as Buddhists try not to harm animals.
Paying homage to the Buddha The Buddha himself has given advice on how to pay homage to him. Just before he died, he saw his faithful attendant Ananda weeping. The Buddha advised him not to weep, but to understand the universal law that all compounded things (including even his own body) must disintegrate. He advised everyone not to cry over the disintegration of the physical body but to regard his teachings as their teacher from then on, because only the Dharma truth is eternal and not subject to the law of change. He also stressed that the way to pay homage to him was not merely by offering flowers, incense, and lights, but by truly and sincerely striving to follow his teachings. This is how devotees are expected to celebrated Wesak: to use the opportunity to reiterate their determination to lead noble lives, to develop their minds, to practise loving-kindness and to bring peace and harmony to humanity
In a commemorative message, Kofi Annan highlighted that this year’s Wesak Day falls as the world body continues its efforts to adapt to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and in particular to implement the commitments made by leaders at last year’s World Summit. “Our success in advancing this agenda of renewal will depend not only on government representatives and international officials. It will rest on voters, consumers, civil society groups and concerned individuals of all ages, in rich and poor countries alike, thinking and acting as global citizens,” he said. “As we mark this year’s Day of Wesak, let us recognize, as Buddhism does, our essential interdependence,” he said, calling for a collective resolve to work towards the common good, and for the harmonious and peaceful coexistence of all the world’s people.
BUDDHIST FESTIVALS
The Four Noble Truths As a result of its impermanence we experience life as suffering
However, suffering itself is caused by our desire for life to be otherwise
Therefore the way to stop suffering is to stop desire The way to stop desire is to follow the Eightfold path.
The doctrine of
Interdependent Origination
(Paticca Samuppada) The interdependence & relativity of all things
11. Birth
12. Aging & Dying
1. Ignorance
Heaven
2. Impulse to Exist
10. Becom- Human Realm ing
3. Demon ConRealm sciousGreed ness Delusion 4. 9. Hatred Hungry MindCling- Animal Ghost Realm Body ing Realm 8. Six 5. Hell Craving Senses 6. 7. Sensations Contact
The Eightfold Path
Right Views Right Thought
Right Speech Right Action
Right Way of Life
Right Effort Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration
The Eightfold Path
Right Views Right Thought
Right Speech Right Action
Right Way of Life
Right Effort Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration
(No-self, cont’d)
The Five Components (skandhas) of personhood
Body (rupa)
Person
Sensation (vedana) Consciousness (vinnana) Perception (sanna) Volition (sankhara)
Mind (nama)
The Five Precepts by Thich Nhat Hanh
The First Precept: Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I vow to cultivate compassion and learn ways to protect the lives of people, animals, and plants. The Second Precept: Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing and oppression, I vow to cultivate loving kindness and learn ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, and plants. The Third Precept: Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I vow to cultivate responsibility and learn ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. The Fourth Precept: Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I vow to cultivate loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. The Fifth Precept: Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I vow to cultivate good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practising mindful eating, drinking, and consuming.
Indra, the king of the gods, has a wonderful net made entirely of strings of jewels. Each jewel in the net both reflects and is reflected by all the other jewels. Thus all jewels, though participating in one another’s existence, retain their own identity.
O Shariputra, in this void there is no form, sensation, thought, activity or consciousness; No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, no form, no tastes, sound, colour, touch or objects; Vision none; no consciousness, no knowledge and no sign of ignorance; Until we come to where old age and death have ceased and so has all extinction of old age and death For here there is no suffering, nor yet again is there accumulation, Nor again annihilation nor an Eightfold Path, no knowledge, no attainment.
• To study the Buddha Dharma is to study the self
• To study the self is to forget the self
• To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things
When you do something, if you fix your mind on the activity with some confidence, the quality of your state of mind is the activity itself. When you are concentrated on the quality of your being, you are prepared for the activity. Shunryu Suzuki