BUDDHISM

PRESENTED BY:
ANOOSHAY TABASSUM
SIDRA NAZ
MALAIKA ABID
KOMAL ZAFAR
ORIGINS OF
BUDDHISM
ANOOSHAY TABASSUM
 The Big Idea
Buddhism began in India
and became a major religion.

Main Ideas
• Siddhartha Gautama searched for wisdom in many ways.
• The teachings of Buddhism deal with finding peace.
• Buddhism spread far from where it began in India.

ORIGINS OF BUDDHISM
SIDDHARTHA

Quest for Answers Enlightenment

• Siddhartha was born a • Found it under the Tree of

prince, but he questioned Wisdom while meditating
the meaning of life.
• Called the Buddha
• Determined to find (Enlightened One)
answers using:
• Spent the rest of his life
• Meditation traveling and teaching his
ideas
• Fasting
• Learning from
different teachers
TEACHINGS OF BUDDHISM

Four Noble Truths

Suffering and unhappiness are a part of human life. No one

1.
can escape sorrow.

Suffering comes from our desires for pleasure and material

2.
goods.

People can overcome desire and ignorance and reach

3.
nirvana, a state of perfect peace.

People can overcome ignorance and desire by following an

4. eightfold path that leads to wisdom, enlightenment, and
salvation.
CHALLENGING HINDU IDEAS

Ancient Ways Changing Society Caste System

• The Buddha • A more • Opposed caste

taught that individualistic system
following the approach to
Vedic texts was • The Eightfold
enlightenment
unnecessary. Path could lead
• Rebirth as a any individual to
• Challenged the means to evolve nirvana.
authority of
Hindu priests • The Buddha’s
teachings
reached all
classes.
BUDDHISM BEGAN IN INDIA AND THEN
BECAME A MAJOR RELIGION.
Buddhism branches out
• Asoka, one of the most powerful kings in India, became a
Buddhist and spread Buddhism in India and foreign lands.
• Buddhist missionaries traveled the world to teach
enlightenment.

Buddhism splits
• Buddhism split into two main sects: Theravada and Mahayana.
• Members of the Theravada followed the Buddha’s teachings
exactly.
• Members of the Mahayana believed that individual
interpretation was important.
EARLY SPREAD OF BUDDHISM
BELIEFS, RITUALS AND WORSHIPS
Sidra Naz
ON LIFE'S JOURNEY
FAITH IS NOURISHMENT,
VIRTUOUS DEEDS ARE A SHELTER,
WISDOM IS THE LIGHT BY DAY AND
RIGHT MINDFULNESS IS THE PROTECTION BY NIGHT.
IF A MAN LIVES A PURE LIFE NOTHING CAN DESTROY HIM;
IF HE HAS CONQUERED GREED NOTHING CAN LIMIT HIS FREEDOM.
(BUDDHA)
 BELIEFS

 THE PRINCIPLES OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY (THE CORE BELIEFS IN BUDDHISM) IN PRACTICE

ARE:

• THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

• THE FIVE PRECEPTS
• THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH
 WORSHIPS:
SACRED TIME
• BORROWING FROM BRAHMANIC RELIGION, WHICH TAUGHT THAT THE UNIVERSE HAD BEEN
CREATED AND DESTROYED OVER AND OVER AGAIN THROUGHOUT VAST PERIODS OF TIME, EARLY
BUDDHISTS BELIEVED THAT TIME FLOWED IN IMMENSE CYCLES. LATER BUDDHISM EXPANDED THIS
VISION TO INCLUDE MULTIPLE UNIVERSES, EACH WITH ITS OWN BUDDHA, AND EACH UNIVERSE
SUBJECT TO IMMENSE CYCLES OF CREATION AND DESTRUCTION. UNLESS ENLIGHTENED, ONE
WOULD BE REBORN AGAIN AND AGAIN THROUGHOUT ALL OF THESE CYCLES.
• SAMSARA, THE ENDLESS CYCLE OF DEATH AND REBIRTH, AND THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF EARLY
BUDDHISM WAS TO ESCAPE FROM SAMSARA.
• THE ESCAPE, CALLED NIRVANA: THERE ARE TWO SENSES OF NIRVANA: A THIS-WORLDLY STATE
WHEN ALL ATTACHMENTS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED, AND THE NON-STATE THAT OCCURS AFTER DEATH,
WHEN REBIRTH CEASES.
 SACRED SPACE

• THE EARLIEST EXAMPLE OF SACRED SPACE IN BUDDHISM IS THE STUPA. EARLY ACCOUNTS
INDICATE THAT THE BUDDHA'S CREMATED REMAINS WERE FIRST PLACED UNDER A MOUND AT A
CROSSROADS, AND THEN REMOVED AND DIVIDED AMONG A NUMBER OF BUDDHIST GROUPS
(SOME SOURCES SAY EIGHT, SOME SAY ELEVEN, SOME SAY TWELVE), EACH OF WHICH
ENSHRINED THEIR PORTION OF THE RELICS IN A STUPA. ACCORDING TO LEGEND, THE GREAT
KING ASHOKA LATER DIVIDED THESE REMAINS AND DISTRIBUTED THEM TO 84,000 STUPAS
THROUGHOUT HIS REALM AND BEYOND.
 RITUALS
• THE RITUALS AND CEREMONIES OF BUDDHISM VARY FROM COUNTRY TO COUNTRY, AND
FROM AREA TO AREA WITHIN A COUNTRY. THE CHINESE MONK XUANZANG, WHO VISITED
INDIA IN THE 7TH CENTURY C.E., RECOUNTED THAT DIFFERENT BUDDHIST SECTS ALREADY HAD
QUITE DIFFERENT RITUAL CALENDARS, AND EVEN CELEBRATED EVENTS IN THE BUDDHA'S LIFE,
SUCH AS HIS BIRTHDAY, ON DATES THAT WERE MONTHS APART.
• NEW YEAR IS THE BIGGEST HOLIDAY OF THE YEAR IN MANY ASIAN COUNTRIES, AND
ACTIVITIES LAST FOR A WEEK OR MORE. TRADITIONS ARE FOLLOWED, SOME SPECIFICALLY
RELATED TO BUDDHISM, AND OTHERS NOT, INCLUDING A THROUGH HOUSECLEANING AND
SETTLING OF DEBTS. SPECIAL FOODS ARE PREPARED, AND SOME BUDDHIST TEMPLES WILL
OFFER FOOD TO THEIR CONSTITUENTS. IN CHINA IT IS CUSTOMARY FOR PEOPLE TO TRAVEL TO
VISIT THEIR FAMILIES FOR THE HOLIDAY. ON NEW YEAR'S EVE IN JAPAN, AT MIDNIGHT,
BUDDHIST TEMPLES RING THE TEMPLE BELL 108 TIMES; AT THE LARGER TEMPLES, HUGE
CROWDS OF PEOPLE WILL ATTEND THIS EVENT.
 WORSHIPS

• FOR INSTANCE, ONE MIGHT ASK GUANYIN TO HEAL A RELATIVE FROM ILLNESS, AND VOW THAT IF
THE RELATIVE RECOVERS ONE WILL COMPLETE A PILGRIMAGE TO ONE OF THE SACRED MOUNTAINS,
OR VISIT A PARTICULAR TEMPLE DAILY FOR A YEAR.
• MEDITATION - MENTAL CONCENTRATION AND MINDFULNESS
• MANTRAS - SACRED SOUNDS
• MUDRAS - SYMBOLIC HAND GESTURES
• PRAYER WHEELS - RECITING MANTRAS WITH THE TURN OF A WHEEL
• MONASTICISM
• PILGRIMAGE - VISITING SACRED SITES
• VENERATION OF BUDDHAS AND DEITIES
• ABHAYA MUDRA (FEARLESSNESS)
THE GESTURE OF FEARLESSNESS AND PROTECTION, REPRESENTING SPIRITUAL
POWER. THIS MUDRA IS MOST OFTEN SEEN IN STANDING BUDDHAS.
• BHUMISPARSHA MUDRA (EARTH WITNESS)
THE GESTURE OF "EARTH WITNESS," WHICH THE BUDDHA IS SAID TO HAVE MADE
AT THE TIME OF HIS ENLIGHTENMENT.
• DHARMACHAKRA MUDRA (WHEEL TURNING)
THE GESTURE OF "WHEEL-TURNING" OR THE TURNING OF THE WHEEL OF THE
DHARMA, REPRESENTING THE BUDDHA'S TEACHINGS.
• DHYANA MUDRA (MEDITATION)
THE GESTURE OF MEDITATION.
• VARADA MUDRA (GIFT GIVING)
THE GESTURE OF GIFT-GIVING OR BESTOWAL.
 •

• ALL THAT WE ARE IS THE RESULT OF WHAT WE HAVE THOUGHT:

IT IS FOUNDED ON OUR THOUGHTS, IT IS MADE UP OF OUR THOUGHTS.
IF A MAN SPEAKS OR ACTS WITH A PURE THOUGHT,
HAPPINESS FOLLOWS HIM, LIKE A SHADOW THAT NEVER LEAVES HIM.

--GAUTAMA BUDDHA
ETHICS AND COMMUNITY
Malaika Abid
 BUDDHISTS ETHICS

• BUDDHIST ETHICS IS CONCERNED WITH THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES THAT HELP
ONE TO ACT IN WAYS THAT HELP RATHER THAN HARM. THE CORE ETHICAL CODE OF
BUDDHISM IS KNOWN AS THE FIVE PRECEPTS. THE BUDDHIST TRADITION
ACKNOWLEDGES THAT LIFE IS COMPLEX AND THROWS UP MANY DIFFICULTIES, AND IT
DOES NOT SUGGEST THAT THERE IS A SINGLE COURSE OF ACTION THAT WILL BE
RIGHT IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE CORE ETHICAL CODE OF BUDDHISM IS KNOWN AS
THE FIVE PRECEPTS, AND THESE ARE THE DISTILLATION OF ITS ETHICAL PRINCIPLES.
 THE FIVE PRECEPTS

1. NOT KILLING OR CAUSING HARM TO OTHER LIVING BEINGS.

2. NOT TAKING THE NOT-GIVEN.
3. AVOIDING SEXUAL MISCONDUCT.
4. AVOIDING FALSE SPEECH.
5. ABSTAINING FROM DRINK AND DRUGS THAT CLOUD THE MIND.
 ADDITIONAL PRECEPTS

5. HARSH SPEECH
6. FRIVOLOUS SPEECH.
7. SLANDEROUS SPEECH.
8. COVETOUSNESS.
9. HATRED.
10. FALSE VIEWS.
 BUDDHISTS COMMUNITY

• THE THREE JEWELS

THE BUDDHA
THE DHARMA
THE SANGHA
 THE BUDDHA

• THE BUDDHA REFERS BOTH TO THE HISTORICAL BUDDHA AND TO THE IDEAL OF
BUDDHAHOOD ITSELF. GOING FOR REFUGE TO THE BUDDHA MEANS SEEING HIM AS
YOUR ULTIMATE TEACHER AND SPIRITUAL EXAMPLE. IT ALSO MEANS COMMITTING
YOURSELF TO ACHIEVING BUDDHAHOOD – ENLIGHTENMENT FOR THE SAKE OF ALL
BEINGS – WHICH MEANS THAT YOU AIM TO BECOME SOMEONE WHO SEES THE
NATURE OF REALITY ABSOLUTELY CLEARLY, JUST AS IT IS, AND LIVES FULLY AND
NATURALLY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THAT VISION.
 THE DHARMA

• THE DHARMA PRIMARILY MEANS THE TEACHINGS OF THE BUDDHA, OR THE TRUTH HE
UNDERSTOOD. AS A TERM IT ALSO ENCOMPASSES BUDDHIST TEACHINGS AS THAT
SAME TRUTH MEDIATED BY LANGUAGE AND CONCEPTS. ANOTHER MEANING OF
DHARMA IS THE PRACTICES WHICH ARE OUTLINED WITHIN THE SCRIPTURES. DESPITE
THE WEALTH OF ITS LITERATURE THE ESSENCE OF BUDDHISM IS VERY SIMPLE: IT IS
FINDING WAYS TO TRANSFORM ONESELF.
 THE SANGHA

• SO THE THIRD OF THE THREE JEWELS IS THE SANGHA OR THE SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY.
MORE BROADLY ‘SANGHA’ ALSO REFERS TO THE PEOPLE WITH WHOM WE SHARE OUR
SPIRITUAL LIVES. WE NEED THE GUIDANCE OF PERSONAL TEACHERS WHO ARE
FURTHER ALONG THE PATH THAN WE ARE, AND THE SUPPORT AND FRIENDSHIP OF
OTHER PRACTITIONERS. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE BUDDHISM IS NOT AN
ABSTRACT PHILOSOPHY OR CREED; IT IS A WAY OF APPROACHING LIFE AND
THEREFORE IT ONLY HAS ANY MEANING WHEN IT IS EMBODIED IN PEOPLE. AND IN THE
BROADEST SENSE THE SANGHA MEANS ALL OF THE BUDDHISTS IN THE WORLD, AND
ALL THOSE OF THE PAST AND OF THE FUTURE.
Komal Zafar
 BUDDHISM FACTS:
• THE RELIGION OF BUDDHISM WAS FOUNDED IN INDIA APPROXIMATELY
2,500 YEARS AGO. BUDDHISM FOLLOWS A VARIETY OF PRACTICES,
BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS BASED UPON THE TEACHINGS OF BUDDHA (AN
INDIAN PRINCE NAMED SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA) WHO WAS BORN IN
LUMBINI IN ABOUT 563 BC. BUDDHA HAD BEEN SHELTERED AS A YOUNG
BOY AND NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE HIS PALACE, DUE TO HIS FATHER'S
BELIEF THAT HE WOULD BECOME A KING IF HE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO SEE
WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE OUTSIDE OF THE PALACE. BUDDHA DID NOT OBEY HIS
FATHER AND VENTURED OUTSIDE SEVERAL TIMES, LEADING TO THE 'FOUR
SIGHTS', AND EVENTUALLY HIS ENLIGHTENMENT.
• "BUDDHA" IS NOT A PERSONAL NAME. IT IS AN HONORIFIC TITLE THAT MEANS
"AWAKENED ONE." BUDDHA'S REAL NAME WAS SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA.
• APPROXIMATELY 500 MILLION PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD, OR ABOUT 10% OF THE
WORLD'S POPULATION, PRACTICE BUDDHISM.
• SOME BUDDHIST MONKS PRACTICE SOKUSHINBUTSU ("A BUDDHA IN THIS VERY
BODY"), WHICH IS A TYPE OF SELF-MUMMIFICATION. BETWEEN THE 12TH AND EARLY
20TH CENTURY, MONKS WOULD EAT PINE NEEDLES, BERRIES, TREE BARK, RESIN, AND
CERTAIN HERBS TO HELP STARVE AND PRESERVE THE BODY.
• UNLIKE MANY OTHER RELIGIONS, THERE IS NO CENTRAL TEXT IN BUDDHISM.
• ACCORDING TO LEGEND, BUDDHA WAS BORN IN NEPAL UNDER A FULL MOON IN A
BEAUTIFUL GARDEN; THE SKY RAINED FLOWER PETALS AND THE EARTH SHOOK.
• SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA (THE BUDDHA) CAME FROM A HINDU FAMILY, AND BOTH
RELIGIONS OVERLAP SOMEWHAT. THE MAJOR DIFFERENCE IS THAT HINDUISM IS CLEARLY
A THEISTIC RELIGION, WHEREAS BUDDHISM IS MOSTLY NON-THEISTIC
• UNLIKE OTHER RELIGIOUS PRACTICES, BUDDHISM DOES NOT REQUIRE A PERSON TO
BELIEVE IN A CREATOR GOD OR GODS. BUDDHISM BELIEVES IN THREE ELEMENTAL
CONCEPTS:
• 1) NOTHING IS PERMANENT.
• 2) ALL ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.
• 3) IT IS POSSIBLE TO CHANGE.
• THE BUDDHA HAS OFTEN BEEN CALLED THE "GREAT PHYSICIAN" BECAUSE HE WAS
PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH IDENTIFYING THE CAUSE OF HUMAN SUFFERING AND
FINDING WAY TO ELIMINATE IT.
• ACCORDING TO THE BUDDHA, THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS IS SIMPLE: TO WANT WHAT
YOU HAVE AND NOT WANT WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE.
• DEPICTIONS OF THE BUDDHA OFTEN SHOW HIM WITH WEBBED TOES, ROUNDED
ANKLES, AND PROJECTING HEELS, WHICH, ACCORDING TO LEGEND, ARE SIGNS OF A
GREAT MAN.
 The "fat" Buddha that people often see in restaurants is not The Buddha,
Gautama Buddha. Rather, he is a character in Chinese folklore called Budai.
 Buddha is usually shown with elongated earlobes, which symbolize wisdom and
understanding. Some scholars also suggest it represents his former life as wealthy
person.
• THE THREE MAJOR BRANCHES OF BUDDHISM IN THE MODERN WORLD ARE MAHAYANA
BUDDHISM, THERAVADA BUDDHISM, AND VAJRAYANA BUDDHISM. MAHAYANA
BUDDHISM IS BELIEVED TO BE THE LARGEST BRANCH, WITH THERAVADA BUDDHISM AND
VAJRAYANA COMING IN SECOND AND THIRD, RESPECTIVELY.
• THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF BUDDHISM IS TO PUT AN END TO SUFFERING AND REBIRTH. THE
WAY TO END SUFFERING IS BY FULFILLING THE HUMAN POTENTIAL FOR GOODNESS
AND HAPPINESS.