Why do people suffer?

Is all suffering bad?

What did the Buddha believe was the cause of suffering?

563 BCE Siddhartha Gautama 360 Million followers

Gods? No God Mahayana Sect

The Buddha is God

Where practiced? India, Tibet,

Nepal, & Bhutan Monotheistic: No / Yes Religious Book? Three Baskets of

Wisdom

Place of Worship? Temple Religious Leader? None Monks are most spiritual

Sects: Theravada: Monks

live ascetic life No god

Mahayana: Buddha is God

Holy City: Lhasa, Tibet

No Caste System Karma

The FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS1. Suffering exists2. Desire causes suffering3. Suffering ends when

attachment to desire ceases.

4. Practice the Eightfold Path to end desire

8 Fold Path:Compassion, understanding,

kindness and truth

Reincarnation: rebirth

NIRVANA Enlightenment Free from suffering

from one’s own desires

The Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya, India. The tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment.Major pilgrimage site

Missionaries: spread Buddhism

throughout Asia Dalai Lama: Leader of Tibetan

Buddhists Bodhisattvas

Buddha Day: Birth, enlightenment and death of

Buddha Symbols: Buddha The Wheel (8 Fold Path) Lotus Flower

Lust ill Will Worry Doubt Laziness

Which is the most difficult for you?

"Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural & spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity" Albert Einstein

Zen koans are paradoxical statements used as a meditation device. People must go beyond the words and their perceptions in order to understand the meaning of existence.

SAMPLE= If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

1 - What is the sound of one hand clapping? 2 - What is your original face before you

were born? 3 - What is the color of the wind?

4 - One day as Manjusri stood outside the gate, the Buddha called to him, "Manjusri, Manjusri, why do you not enter?" Manjusri replied, "I do not see myself as outside. Why enter?"

5 - A monk asked Master Haryo, "What is the way?” Haryo said, "An open-eyed man falling into the well."

6 - One day Chao-chou fell down in the snow, and called out, "Help me up! Help me up!" A monk came and lay down beside him. Chao-chou got up and went away.

7 - Two monks were arguing about the temple flag waving in the wind.

One said, "The flag moves." The other said, "The wind moves." They argued back and forth but could not agree. Hui-neng, the sixth patriarch, said: "Gentlemen! It

is not the flag that moves. It is not the wind that moves. It is your mind that moves."

8 - A monk asked Zhao Zhou to teach him. Zhao Zhou asked, "Have you eaten your meal?" The monk replied, "Yes, I have." "Then go wash your bowl," said Zhao Zhou.At that moment, the monk was enlightened.

9 - As the roof was leaking, a zen Master told two monks to bring something to catch the water. One brought a tub, the other a basket. The first was severely reprimanded, the second highly praised.

10 - Once Ma-tsu and Pai-chang were walking along and saw some wild ducks fly by.

"What is that?" the Master asked."Wild ducks," Pai-chang replied."Where have they gone?""They've flown away," Pai-chang said.The Master then twisted Pai-chang's nose,

and when Pai-chang cried out in pain, Ma- tsu said, "When have they ever flown away?"