Buddhism & the Axial Age Use Index for quick access Buddhism originated in India at the end of the 6th century BCE. This period is sometimes known as the Axial Age . Around this same time, major philosophical figures lived in several parts of the world; It was the age of Confucius and Laozi in China; This was the age of the great Greek philosophers, including Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; In India, this was the period when the Buddha developed his ideas. Consult Karl Jaspers
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Buddhism & the Axial Age Use Index for quick access Buddhism originated in India at the end of the 6th century BCE. This period is sometimes known as the.
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Buddhism & the Axial AgeUse Index for quick access
Buddhism originated in India at the end of the 6th century BCE.
This period is sometimes known as the Axial Age. Around this same time, major philosophical figures lived
in several parts of the world; It was the age of Confucius and Laozi in China; This was the age of the great Greek philosophers,
including Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; In India, this was the period when the Buddha developed
his ideas. Consult Karl Jaspers
ꞌSakyaꞌmuni, the Founderhttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Sakyamuni
释迦牟尼 The founder of Buddhism is known by
several names. He was a prince in one of the many royal
families living in what is now northern India and southern Nepal;
His given name was Si’ddhartha, and he was also called ‘Gautama;
He is sometimes known as ‘Sakyamuni 释迦牟尼 , which means “the light of the
Sakya family.”
Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha c. for circa (“around” in Latin) 563 BCE to 483 BCE
"Buddha" meaning "awakened one" or "the enlightened one."
Various collections of teachings attributed to Gautama were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later.
Gautama, the Sanskrit form of the family name of Siddhartha, the historical Buddha
Siddhartha was raised in relative luxury but turned to a life of spiritual questing;
Many stories recount his initial awakening; In one, he overhears the wailing of a funeral procession
and learns about death and suffering in this way; In another, as a young prince, he is given a beautiful
princess bride; but when he sees her drooling in her sleep, he realizes there is imperfection in the world;
He left his family home and went into the world to seek answers to his spiritual questions;
Siddhartha, an epithet of Buddha meaning “he who has attained his goal.”
The Bodhi (Wisdom) Treesupreme knowledge or
enlightenment The Bodhi Tree, also known as
Bo (from the Sinhalese Bo), was a large and very old Sacred Fig tree (Ficus religiosa) located in Bodh Gaya (about 100 km (62 mi) from Patna in the Indian state of Bihar), under which Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism later known as Gautama Buddha, achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi.
In religious iconography, the Bodhi tree is recognizable by its heart-shaped leaves, which are usually prominently displayed.
“the Four Noble Truths” (East Asia 56/66)
Midway between self-deprivation and gratification
The teachings of the Buddhism are fairly simple and straightforward.
The key to his enlightenment is the realization of the nature of suffering.
Suffering is part of the normal life of people; Suffering arises from our attachment to things; If we wish to be free of suffering, we must liberate
ourselves from our attachments; There is a way to do this through meditation and
renunciation; These are the Four Noble Truths;
The eightfold path to liberation(Ebrey 66)
The Dharma wheel, often used to represent the Noble Eightfold Path
also known as the Middle Path or Middle Way.
The threefold division of the path(East Asia 56/66)
Wisdom Ethical conduct Concentration
1. Right understanding
2. Right intention
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right concentration
the impermanence of all things Buddhism denies the permanence of phenomena; All things arise and pass away; everything has a beginning
and an end; The appearance of permanence in things is an illusion;
sometimes called maya, the illusion of the reality of sensory experience and of the experienced qualities and attributes of oneself;
This does not mean, as is sometimes said, that nothing is real, merely that no reality is permanent;
Because all things pass away, attachment to them can yield only suffering;
Therefore, the way to free oneself from suffering is to realize and accept the impermanence of all things, including oneself;
Thera’vada vs. Maha’yanaTwo Major Schools of Buddhism
Theravada or Hinayana 小乘教“ Lesser Vehicle” was concerned with individual liberation;
It emphasizes meditation and withdrawal from the world;
Mahayana 大乘教 , meaning “Greater Vehicle,” is not only concerned with individual liberation, but also concerned with the spiritual liberation of all beings.
The Attraction of Buddhism In innermost essence,
everything is Nirvana or empty.
The ultimate reality is consciousness; that everything is produced by the mind.
Karma: cause and effect; action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation
Buddhism addresses human suffering with an unmatched directness. Many were comforted by the belief that one could earn merit, and that there is an invisible moral order governing the universe, and moreover, under this system one is rewarded in this life or the next for good deeds…
Bodhisattva 菩萨
The Bodhi’sattva, an enlightened spiritual being who chooses to remain in the phenomenal world to aid others, was the ideal of the Mahayana path.
Introduced to China Around the beginning of the Common Era, Buddhism first
appeared in China; Buddhist monks travelled along overland routes from
northeast India to Central Asia. The trade route of the Silk Road provided the main adventures for these travelers;
Sometimes in the 1st century CE, the first monastery was set up in China, near the Later Han capital at Luoyang. Buddhist monks became teachers at the imperial court, though without the same high status as Confucian scholars.
The White Horse Temple白马寺
the first Buddhist temple in China, established in 68 AD under the patronage of Emperor Ming 汉明帝 in the Eastern Han 东汉
(25 AD - 220 AD) capital Luoyang. The temple, although small in size in comparison to many other temples in China, is considered by most believers as "the cradle of Chinese Buddhism"
The negative methodThe So’cratic method
The Socratic method (also known as method of elenchus, Socratic irony, or Socratic debate), named after the classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas. It is a dialectical method, often involving an oppositional discussion in which the defense of one point of view is pitted against the defense of another; one participant may lead another to contradict him in some way, strengthening the inquirer's own point.