At the core of the religion of the Buddhists is the “Triple Gem”:
A. Buddha
B. Dhamma – Why, or why not Dharma?
C. Sangha
Essentially we will look at the various aspects of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha of the Buddhism in our series of seven brief lectures.
And you are expected to read through the next twenty days Fisher’s book pages 134-181, less than fifty pages!
As you walk around early morning in a Theravada Buddhist Country such as Sri Lanka one is likely to hear the chanting of the following:
A. Buddham saranam gacchami – I take refuge in Buddha.
B. Dhammam saranam gacchami – I take refuge in Dhamma (Teaching).
C. Sangham saranam gacchami – I take refuge in Sangha (Community).
Buddhists – the members of the Sangha
1. Please go to http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html and you will discover there are only a small percentage (6%) of people in the world who call themselves Buddhists.
2. Top 10 largest National Buddhist Population: China (102,000,000 – ?%), Japan (89,650,000 – 50%), Thailand (55,480,000 – 95%), Vietnam (49,690,000 – 55%), Myanmar (41,610,000 – 88%), Sri Lanka (12,540,000 – 70%), South Korea (10,920,000), Taiwan (9,150,000 – 43%), Cambodia (9,130,000 – 90%), and India (7,000,000 – ?%).
3. To familiarize yourself of Buddhism in Canada you may visit - http://www.buddhismcanada.com/
Buddha (563-483 BCE) – Life and Legend
1. Here is obviously a legend that suggests “a Buddhist Virgin Birth”: “According to ancient tradition, Queen Maya, his mother, first had a dream of a beautiful white elephant coming down into her womb, and this was interpreted as a sign that the Buddha, or a universal emperor, was about to be born. When her time came, Queen Maya went into the garden and gave painless birth to the bodhisattva. He immediately walked, spoke, and was received by Brahma.” But we need to turn to some basic facts!
2. Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama was born in a small country in what is now part of Nepal. He belonged to a clan called the Sakyas. Hence he was called Sakya Sage. Buddha was the head of this clan, and was considered a king. Buddha’s parents are Suddodana Gautama and Mahamaya. Seven days after his birth, his mother died.
A. Buddha
B. Dhamma – Why, or why not Dharma?
C. Sangha
Essentially we will look at the various aspects of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha of the Buddhism in our series of seven brief lectures.
And you are expected to read through the next twenty days Fisher’s book pages 134-181, less than fifty pages!
As you walk around early morning in a Theravada Buddhist Country such as Sri Lanka one is likely to hear the chanting of the following:
A. Buddham saranam gacchami – I take refuge in Buddha.
B. Dhammam saranam gacchami – I take refuge in Dhamma (Teaching).
C. Sangham saranam gacchami – I take refuge in Sangha (Community).
Buddhists – the members of the Sangha
1. Please go to http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html and you will discover there are only a small percentage (6%) of people in the world who call themselves Buddhists.
2. Top 10 largest National Buddhist Population: China (102,000,000 – ?%), Japan (89,650,000 – 50%), Thailand (55,480,000 – 95%), Vietnam (49,690,000 – 55%), Myanmar (41,610,000 – 88%), Sri Lanka (12,540,000 – 70%), South Korea (10,920,000), Taiwan (9,150,000 – 43%), Cambodia (9,130,000 – 90%), and India (7,000,000 – ?%).
3. To familiarize yourself of Buddhism in Canada you may visit - http://www.buddhismcanada.com/
Buddha (563-483 BCE) – Life and Legend
1. Here is obviously a legend that suggests “a Buddhist Virgin Birth”: “According to ancient tradition, Queen Maya, his mother, first had a dream of a beautiful white elephant coming down into her womb, and this was interpreted as a sign that the Buddha, or a universal emperor, was about to be born. When her time came, Queen Maya went into the garden and gave painless birth to the bodhisattva. He immediately walked, spoke, and was received by Brahma.” But we need to turn to some basic facts!
2. Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama was born in a small country in what is now part of Nepal. He belonged to a clan called the Sakyas. Hence he was called Sakya Sage. Buddha was the head of this clan, and was considered a king. Buddha’s parents are Suddodana Gautama and Mahamaya. Seven days after his birth, his mother died.
3. Astrologer Asita foretold that Siddhartha would either become a great emperor, or a sage! Buddha’s father anxious to see his son a great emperor shielded him from anything that might promote him into religious life providing all the comforts and wealth. Very early in his life he was also married to a beautiful princess of a neighbouring kingdom, Yashodhara.
4. As Siddhartha continued living in the luxury of his palaces, he grew increasing restless and became curious to explore the world beyond the comforts of his palace.
5. Buddhist sources then speak of four visions, or four scenes, that Buddha saw in his explorations:
a. First day he saw a sick person.
b. Second day he saw an elderly person.
c. Third day he saw a corpse being carried for cremation by a group of mourners.
d. And finally he saw an ascetic, a monk who had renounced all the pleasures of this world and looked very peaceful. This one made a lasting impression on Siddhartha’s mind.
6. At the age of 29 renounced his palace after kissing his sleeping wife and the newborn son Rahula. He then began to practice an ascetic life with a group of ascetics. This went on for six years bringing no satisfactory answers to his questions of overcoming pain, old age, and death.
7. Siddhartha realizing that these extreme practices were leading him nowhere, that in fact it might be better to find some middle way between the extremes of the life of luxury and the life of self-mortification. So he ate, drank, bathed in the river and decided to sit under a Boddhi tree until he found answers to the problem of suffering in life.
8. It was at this point he experienced a sense of “enlightenment”, known as nibbana, which means he found answers to his quest that were later to become “The Four Noble Truths”. We will discuss this in our next class. It is believed that his enlightenment happened when Siddhartha was thirty-five years old. In the next forty-five years of his life he went around preaching the dhamma, his doctrines, establishing sangha, the Buddhist community, and died at the age of eighty due to food poisoning. Buddha’s death is considered as parinibbana, supreme enlightenment.
9. More details on Buddha’s life and legends connected with his life can be explored at: http://souledout.org/wesak/storybuddha.html
Questions to Explore:
1. Narrate the story of Buddha’s enlightenment.
2. What role do the legends play to enhance the beauty of Buddhist religion?
4. As Siddhartha continued living in the luxury of his palaces, he grew increasing restless and became curious to explore the world beyond the comforts of his palace.
5. Buddhist sources then speak of four visions, or four scenes, that Buddha saw in his explorations:
a. First day he saw a sick person.
b. Second day he saw an elderly person.
c. Third day he saw a corpse being carried for cremation by a group of mourners.
d. And finally he saw an ascetic, a monk who had renounced all the pleasures of this world and looked very peaceful. This one made a lasting impression on Siddhartha’s mind.
6. At the age of 29 renounced his palace after kissing his sleeping wife and the newborn son Rahula. He then began to practice an ascetic life with a group of ascetics. This went on for six years bringing no satisfactory answers to his questions of overcoming pain, old age, and death.
7. Siddhartha realizing that these extreme practices were leading him nowhere, that in fact it might be better to find some middle way between the extremes of the life of luxury and the life of self-mortification. So he ate, drank, bathed in the river and decided to sit under a Boddhi tree until he found answers to the problem of suffering in life.
8. It was at this point he experienced a sense of “enlightenment”, known as nibbana, which means he found answers to his quest that were later to become “The Four Noble Truths”. We will discuss this in our next class. It is believed that his enlightenment happened when Siddhartha was thirty-five years old. In the next forty-five years of his life he went around preaching the dhamma, his doctrines, establishing sangha, the Buddhist community, and died at the age of eighty due to food poisoning. Buddha’s death is considered as parinibbana, supreme enlightenment.
9. More details on Buddha’s life and legends connected with his life can be explored at: http://souledout.org/wesak/storybuddha.html
Questions to Explore:
1. Narrate the story of Buddha’s enlightenment.
2. What role do the legends play to enhance the beauty of Buddhist religion?
