Buddhism – A Basic Overview

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Written Sun, 2011-01-23

* The Buddhist tradition as we know it has its origin in the life and teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha, born Siddartha Gautama, some 2500 years ago in northern India, in what is now Nepal. Buddha literally means awakened one. The various Buddhist traditions are all paths of awakening to the true nature of life.
 
* Early Buddhist teaching: found today primarily in the Theravada tradition, emphasizes renunciation, and liberating oneself from the wheel of suffering by practicing the 8-fold path. What is now referred to as insight meditation or vipassana, as well as metta (loving kindness) practice, come to us from this tradition. Later Buddhist traditions sometimes referred to these early Buddhist schools as the Hinayana (lesser vehicle), but this term is no longer accepted.
 
* Buddha’s First teaching (after his enlightenment) -- The Four Noble Truths
   1. dukkha – Suffering and stress.   Life involves suffering. 
   2. dukkha samudaya – The source of suffering.  Suffering is caused by craving and attachment.
   3. dukkha nirodha.  The ending of suffering –which is attainable by letting go of craving. This leads to a state of peace and enlightenment, called nirvana.
   4. dukkha nirodha gamini pattipada magga.  The way to realize this goal. The Eight-fold path: 1) right understanding or view,  2) right intention, 3) right speech, 4) right action, 5) right livelihood, 6) right effort, 7) right mindfulness, 8) right concentration.
 
* The last two elements of the eight-fold path – mindfulness and concentration – are the heart of mental training and meditation practice, which is central to most Buddhist traditions. 
 
* The world of cyclical suffering that we live in is called samsara.   Liberation from suffering in samsara is nirvana, which means becoming free of the cycle of attachment and loss, birth and death.
 
Four related teachings important in Buddhism:
* An-atman:  no-self; there is no permanent, separate entity within beings.
 
* Sunyata: Emptiness, no-thingness. No thing has independent self-existence.
 
* Interdependent arising: everything arises in relationship with all other things.
 
* Impermanence
 
 
Mahayana Buddhism:  The second wave (or yana / vehicle) of Buddhist teaching, Mahayana (greater vehicle), emphasizes compassion for all beings, founded upon the recognition that all possess Buddha nature. Central to Mahayana is the ideal of the bodhissatva, a being who vows to liberate all beings from suffering, forgoing his or her own entrance into nirvana until all are liberated. Zen, Pure Land, and Nichiren Buddhism are all part of mahayana.
 
 
Vajrayana Buddhism: Tibetan Buddhism (as well as the lesser known Shingon sect in Japan) comprise the third yana – Vajrayana (indestructible vehicle), also known as Tantric Buddhism. This tradition works directly with the energies of the body, through visualization, breathing, mantra, and contemplative practices. Known as the path which is driven by the result, vajrayana involves manifesting oneself directly and immediately as an enlightened being. Initiation and ongoing relationship with a guru is important.
 
* The Buddhist path leads to the experience of non-duality, or the oneness of all life.
 
* Ultimately samsara and nirvana are one, form and emptiness are one; this very world is where we find enlightenment.