Buddhism

1. Buddhism

2. Buddhism - 560 to 490 BCE • Buddhism developed out of the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama who, in 535 BCE, reached enlightenment and assumed the title Buddha. • He promoted 'The Middle Way' as the path to enlightenment rather than the extremes of mortification of the flesh or hedonism.

3. Buddhism - 560 to 490 BCE Buddhists believe in reincarnation and that one must go through cycles of birth, life, and death. After many such cycles, if a person releases their attachment to desire and the self, they can attain Nirvana.

4. Dukkha – All worldly life is unsatisfactory, disjointed, impermanent, suffering • Samudaya – there is a cause for suffering, which is attachment or desire (tanha) • Nirodha – there is a way out of suffering, which is to eliminate attachment and desire • Marga – the path that leads out of suffering is called the Noble Eightfold Path

6. Buddhism - 560 to 490 BCE • In general, Buddhists do not believe in any type of God, the need for a savior, prayer, or eternal life after death. • However, since the time of the Buddha, Buddhism has integrated many regional religious rituals, beliefs and customs into it as it has spread throughout Asia, so that this generalization is no longer true for all Buddhists. • This has occurred with little conflict due to the philosophical nature of Buddhism.

7. Buddhist writings Long after his death, the Buddha's teachings were written down. This collection is called the Tripitaka. Buddhavacana (word of Buddha) • Sutras (discourses) • Vinaya (rules of monastic discipline) • Abhidharma (analytical texts)

8. Zen Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The Japanese word Zen is derived from the Chinese word Chán, which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which means "meditation" or "meditative state".

9. History of Zen The emergence of Zen as a distinct school of Buddhism was first documented in China in the 7th century CE. From China, Zen spread south to Vietnam, and east to Korea and Japan.

10. What they believe Zen asserts that all sentient beings have Buddha-nature, the universal nature of transcendent wisdom, and emphasizes that Buddha-nature is nothing other than the essential nature of the mind itself. The aim of Zen practice is to discover this Buddha-nature within each person, through meditation and practice of the Buddha's teachings. The ultimate goal of this is to become a Completely Enlightened Buddha

11. Writings • Eschews writings and pursues god through meditation • Follows Buddhist writings • Zen writings • The Dhammapada - The Sayings of the Buddha • The Heart Sutra • The Diamond Sutra • The Lotus Sutra

12. Flower Sermon The origins of Zen Buddhism are ascribed to the Flower Sermon, the earliest source for which comes from the 14th century. It is said that Gautama Buddha gathered his disciples one day for a Dharma talk. When they gathered together, the Buddha was completely silent and some speculated that perhaps the Buddha was tired or ill. The Buddha silently held up and twirled a flower and twinkled his eyes; several of his disciples tried to interpret what this meant, though none of them were correct. One of the Buddha's disciples, Mahākāśyapa, silently gazed at the flower and broke into a broad smile. The Buddha then acknowledged Mahākāśyapa's insight by saying the following: I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvāṇa, the true form of the formless, the subtle Dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa. Thus, through Zen there developed a way which concentrated on direct experience rather than on rational creeds or revealed scriptures. Wisdom was passed, not through words, but through a lineage of one-to-one direct transmission of thought from teacher to student.