Buddhism Practices
Summary
TLDRThis video provides an overview of key Buddhist practices, focusing on daily routines, precepts, and major religious festivals like Vesak. It explores differences between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, emphasizing how Theravada focuses on monasticism and self-reliance, while Mahayana leans on the bodhisattva ideal. The video also covers the precepts followed by both laypeople and monks, alongside various meditative and merit-earning practices. The unique features of Tibetan and Zen Buddhism, including rituals, meditation, and philosophical approaches, are highlighted. The video concludes with a detailed explanation of Vesak, a significant Buddhist festival.
Takeaways
- π§ Buddhism emphasizes seeing the world as it is and eliminating ignorance, which leads to cravings and suffering.
- π There are five main precepts in Buddhism: refraining from taking life, stealing, sensual misconduct, lying, and intoxication.
- π Eight additional precepts are followed during religious holidays, such as refraining from eating at the wrong time, dancing, and using luxurious items.
- πΌ Monks and nuns follow ten precepts, which include avoiding gold or silver and additional rules on eating, dancing, and outward appearances.
- π Merit-making, including giving donations and supporting monks, plays a significant role in Theravada Buddhism for both laypeople and monks.
- π₯ Mahayana Buddhism introduces the bodhisattva ideal, where liberation is accessible to everyone, and emphasizes compassion toward others.
- π¨ Tibetan Buddhism integrates rituals like mandalas and prayer wheels and believes Enlightenment can be achieved in one lifetime through practices like tantrism.
- 𧩠Zen Buddhism focuses on meditation and dismisses scriptures, using techniques like koans (riddles) to promote immediate awakening.
- π Vesak, a major Buddhist holiday, celebrates the birth, Enlightenment, and death of Buddha with processions, offerings, and candlelight ceremonies.
- π In Tibetan Buddhism, Vesak is celebrated for a full month, and Merit accumulated during this time is considered significantly more valuable.
Q & A
What are the key themes of Buddhism mentioned in the video?
-The key themes of Buddhism mentioned include ignorance as the cause of suffering, the reality of the world being misperceived, and the importance of eliminating cravings to end suffering. Theravada Buddhism focuses on self-reliance, while Mahayana Buddhism emphasizes reliance upon a bodhisattva.
What are the five precepts that all Buddhists should follow?
-The five precepts are: refraining from taking life, refraining from taking what is not given, refraining from sensual misconduct, refraining from lying, and refraining from intoxicants.
What additional precepts are followed by laypeople during religious holidays?
-During religious holidays, laypeople follow eight precepts, which include the original five precepts plus refraining from eating at the wrong time, refraining from dancing and outward appearances, and refraining from using comfortable seats or beds.
How does Theravada Buddhism differ from Mahayana Buddhism in terms of practices?
-Theravada Buddhism is monastic and focuses on self-effort, meditation, and study to achieve liberation. Mahayana Buddhism offers liberation to all and relies on the bodhisattva ideal to assist in extinguishing desires, rather than relying solely on individual effort.
What is the role of Merit and Karma in Theravada Buddhism?
-In Theravada Buddhism, merit (punya) and karma are essential for liberation. Merit is earned through good deeds, such as making donations to monks. The accumulation of positive merit helps maintain good karma, which impacts one's spiritual progress.
What are some unique practices in Mahayana Buddhism?
-Mahayana Buddhism includes diverse practices like meditation, calligraphy, and word riddles (koans) to help focus the mind and realize the non-dual nature of the world. It also includes the bodhisattva ideal, where practitioners vow to help others achieve liberation.
What is the significance of the bodhisattva vows in Mahayana Buddhism?
-The bodhisattva vows focus on freeing all beings from suffering, ending passions, learning endless teachings, and attaining buddhahood. Despite their seemingly impossible nature, these vows emphasize compassion and the commitment to help others on the path to enlightenment.
How does Tibetan Buddhism differ from other forms of Buddhism in its practices?
-Tibetan Buddhism emphasizes ritual practices over meditation, such as tantrism, and holds the belief that enlightenment can be achieved in a single lifetime. It also includes unique traditions like the selection of the Dalai Lama and the use of mandalas and prayer wheels.
What is the significance of the Vesak holiday in Buddhism?
-Vesak is a major Buddhist holiday that celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha. It is marked by colorful festivals, processions, and offerings at temples. In Tibetan Buddhism, Vesak can last for a month, with merit accumulation being significantly multiplied during this period.
What is the purpose of Zen Buddhismβs focus on meditation and koans?
-Zen Buddhism emphasizes direct meditation and dismisses scriptures and rituals. The use of koans, or word puzzles, helps practitioners break through logical thinking and experience a sudden realization of the non-duality of reality, leading to enlightenment.
Outlines
π§ββοΈ Overview of Buddhist Practices and Key Themes
This section introduces the Buddhist practices and main teachings, particularly the emphasis on understanding the world and shedding ignorance. The core concepts, including the role of ignorance in suffering, are discussed. Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism are contrastedβTheravada focusing on self-reliance and Mahayana on bodhisattvas. The section introduces the foundational virtues, or precepts, that guide Buddhist practices, including the Five Precepts and how they expand to Eight for laypeople during religious holidays and Ten for monks and nuns.
π« The Five, Eight, and Ten Precepts
The Five Precepts involve refraining from taking life, stealing, sensual misconduct, lying, and intoxication. Laypeople observe these during religious holidays with additional precepts such as refraining from eating at improper times, dancing, or excessive ornamentation. Monks and nuns follow the Ten Precepts, which extend the previous ones with restrictions on possessions like gold or silver, emphasizing communal living and detachment from material wealth.
π Theravada Buddhism: Monastic Life and Merit-Making
Theravada Buddhism's monastic life is central, focusing on individual effort for liberation. Monks study sacred texts and practice meditation to accumulate merit, which is seen as balancing one's karma. Laypeople contribute to monks by offering gifts, which helps both parties gain merit. Merit is especially important for ensuring the well-being of one's family in the afterlife, preventing them from falling into negative realms.
πΈ Mahayana Buddhism: Bodhisattvas and Unique Practices
Mahayana Buddhism, known for its inclusivity, allows everyone to attain liberation, often through the guidance of bodhisattvas. Practices like meditation, calligraphy, and riddles are used to realize the emptiness of the world. The Four Great Vows of bodhisattvas emphasize compassion, vowing to free all beings and end desires, even if the task seems impossible, demonstrating their dedication to others' enlightenment.
π¨ Tibetan Buddhism: Rituals and the Dalai Lama
Tibetan Buddhism combines meditation with ritualistic practices, and its distinct belief in achieving enlightenment within a single lifetime is demonstrated through tantrism. The unique process of selecting the Dalai Lama, believed to be the reincarnation of the previous one, plays a key role. Practices like creating intricate mandalas and using prayer wheels for reciting mantras reflect the deep ritualistic focus of Tibetan Buddhism.
π§ββοΈ Zen Buddhism: Meditation and Word Riddles
Zen Buddhism is distinct in its focus on meditation as the primary path to enlightenment, dismissing scriptures and traditions. Practitioners aim to achieve immediate awakening through meditation and reflection on paradoxical word riddles (koans). The goal is to break conventional thinking and realize the true, non-dual nature of reality.
π Vesak: Celebrating Buddha's Life and Enlightenment
Vesak is Buddhism's most significant religious festival, celebrating the Buddhaβs birth, enlightenment, and death. Traditions include visiting temples, offering flowers, lighting candles, and participating in processions. In Tibetan Buddhism, Vesak lasts a month, with increased focus on accumulating merit, as actions during this period are believed to be more spiritually beneficial.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Precepts
π‘Theravada Buddhism
π‘Mahayana Buddhism
π‘Bodhisattva
π‘Ignorance
π‘Merit
π‘Meditation
π‘The Five Precepts
π‘Vesak
π‘Zen Buddhism
Highlights
Buddhism focuses on seeing the world as it truly is and aims to eliminate suffering through understanding and reducing ignorance.
Theravada Buddhism emphasizes self-reliance for achieving enlightenment, while Mahayana Buddhism involves reliance on the bodhisattva.
The Five Precepts are the core ethical guidelines in Buddhism, which include refraining from taking life, stealing, sensual misconduct, lying, and intoxicants.
In addition to the Five Precepts, there are Eight Precepts followed during religious holidays and Ten Precepts observed by monks and nuns.
Theravada Buddhism is largely monastic, where monks achieve liberation through self-effort, meditation, and concentration.
Merit-making, or 'punya,' is a significant practice where laypeople earn merit by donating to monks and engaging in acts of generosity.
Mahayana Buddhism offers a more inclusive path to liberation, emphasizing the role of the bodhisattva and the idea of emptiness, even in the core teachings like the Four Noble Truths.
In Tibetan Buddhism, enlightenment can be achieved within one lifetime through practices such as Tantrism, which include rituals like mandala creation.
The Dalai Lama is chosen through a unique process that involves identifying the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama's spirit.
Mandalas in Tibetan Buddhism symbolize the cosmic world and demonstrate the impermanence of life as they are meticulously crafted and then destroyed.
Prayer wheels are a common practice in Tibetan Buddhism, where spinning the wheels recites mantras, symbolizing devotion.
Zen Buddhism, a form of Mahayana, rejects scripture and ritual, focusing entirely on meditation and achieving enlightenment through intuition.
Zen Buddhism uses 'koans,' which are riddles or paradoxical statements meant to challenge the mind and push one toward enlightenment.
Vesak is the most important religious festival in Buddhism, celebrating the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha through temple visits and offerings.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Vesak lasts for a full month, and any merit earned during this time is believed to be multiplied significantly, enhancing the spiritual benefits.
Transcripts
all right everybody well we are going to
cover in this last video on Buddhism
some of the Buddhist practices so what
does it look like for a Buddhist uh from
a day-to-day basis what are some of the
key things
um practices that they do um also we'll
take a look at one of the major
religious festivals in Buddhism and so
as we jump
um
we have talked already about how
Buddhism is about seeing the world as it
really is about losing passions and so
theravada Buddhism would do that through
self-reliance whereas Mayana does it
through relying Upon a bodhisattva
and some of the key themes here are the
ignorance which is the cause of
suffering right and so ignorance about
the reality of the world is what causes
cravings and Cravings cause suffering
these are just kind of the core things
of Buddhism
and so
um because of that Buddhism bases its
practice upon virtues or precepts and so
there are five precepts that everyone
should follow
at all times and then if you add eight
more these are precepts followed by lay
people during a religious holiday and
then you will look at 10 precepts that
are often followed by monks and nuns in
their day-to-day life
and so the five precepts
um you see in there there to restrain
from taking a life to restrain from
taking them not given to refrain from
sensual misconduct refrain from lying
and to refrain from intoxicants
and so taking a life is easy
um we talked a little bit about the
spread and the demise of Buddhism how
Buddhism lends itself to passivism
pacifism and so that's the idea to
restrain from taking a life whether
that's sometimes even self-defense you
need to restraint from doing it it's not
just murder necessarily it's taking a
life to refrain from taking that not
given and so that would be any kind of
stealing those types of things
if somebody hasn't given it to you it's
not yours and you can't take it
to refrain from sensual misconduct and
we talked about through
um
just about how Buddhism is the middle
way and so it's not giving up all
desires but um it's recognizing that
desires and Cravings come from ignorance
and so obviously sexuality is a big part
of that so the part of the fried
precepts is to refrain from misconduct
in that way and so
um that wouldn't mean your normal like
householder type stuff like we talked
about with Hinduism
um but anything outside of that
and
um of course you know this is for the
lay people but monks will build upon
that as well to refrain from lying or
just refrain from speaking untruth
you can see why you would do that and
then to refrain from intoxicants so any
kind of alcohol or drugs I'm usually in
Buddhist countries these are kind of
looked down upon
as something that you wouldn't do if you
were a good person and so because it's
part of the five precepts and even
though the senses might lie to you and
lead you to craving you still don't want
to be under so any form of intoxication
which is not going to help your
ignorance and your path forward with
knowledge
and then these eight precepts these are
the three additional ones and they're
observed during religious holidays and
so they're to refrain from eating at the
wrong time to refrain from dancing and
outward appearances and to refrain from
using comfortable seats or beds
and so eating at the wrong time during
holidays you're only allowed as part of
your observance of the holiday to eat at
certain times and so you can't just eat
whenever you want
and which would interestingly be enough
be kind of very different than American
holidays right often our American
holidays are celebrated by eating over
the course of a long period of time
where these are celebrated by refraining
from eating at the wrong time
and then to refrain from dancing in our
appearances our appearances means things
like getting all dressed up especially
in jewelry and things like that or
wearing things like perfume it's really
that kind of outward attempting maybe to
make some kind of a statement with your
outward appearances or show
um
you know your your well to offer
something like that and the dancing as
well
and then comfortable seats or beds this
is how you sit during the day and part
of it's just that desire for luxury or
to reduce suffering and so you're trying
to get rid of that
and then here are the 10 precepts these
are in addition to the five that we
looked at to begin with also it's
refrained from eating at the wrong time
which we've already talked about to
refrain from dancing to refrain from
outward appearances those were paired
off up in the April precepts that we
looked at before and then to refrain
from using comfortable seats or bed
um we talked about that as well during
the release holidays for Lay people with
that main one that's added along with
the religious holiday ones for a monk or
a known that they practice all the time
is to refrain from accepting gold or
silver and so that is the idea that they
can't have personal possessions of gold
or silver and while they might accept
some for the monastery or the nunnery
um
for the the Sangha they I just can't
accept it and have gold or silver
personally and so these are very
communal environments
because they're not because it's the
last of the ten precepts for a month or
none
um and so that's kind of the the ideals
or the precepts or the values that guide
day-to-day life are those five the eight
the ten precepts
and so um as we talk about practices
inside of tarabada Buddhism it's very
monastic it's monasticism which is
Central inter Buddhism only the ordained
as you can remember only the ordained
achieve liberation
and they the monks hold to a monastic
cold called the tripitaka
um there are Urban monks who specialize
in studying the tripitaka and the
monastic code in the Sacred Scriptures
and then even inside theravada they're
Forest monks who focus on meditation
and if you remember one of the big
things of terravata Buddhism Liberation
comes through self-effort right the work
that we're doing inside of us and so
this is Merit and Karma focused and it's
very focused on meditation concentration
and study
and so the Merit again we talked about
the the Merit and the karma and the good
and the bad you know those are kind of
two balances that are constantly moving
and making Merit is known as punya
um and so making Merit is a donation but
at the heart of the donation
is really Merit
and they usually go like this the monks
will go out to collect gifts
and so you'd give food to a monk is a
great way you bow down to a passing Monk
if you get ordained for a little bit
even if only for a short time that helps
you make Merit
um and so the lay people depend on monks
to earn Merit and so it's often very
monk oriented for the Merit of the mink
and as I uh mentioned earlier
um that there could be somewhat of a
dark side to this with that that place
where your your negative Merit is a kind
of almost like a version of hell and so
you have the dependence of your parents
and family members to keep them out of
there so you want to keep earning
positive Merit to keep them in the good
place instead of in the bad place
and so this is what it might look like
um the monks go out they collect gifts
and here you see people lining up to
give monks gifts they have their bulls
and they're filling the bowls with
different things
and this is what the mugs eat this is
what
um the the money that's given this is
what helps girls to support and build
um the temples and different things like
that as well
um so Mahayana Buddhism and its
practices remember we looked at the kind
of the branches of Buddhism and how
Mayana can be very diverse
but there are some common themes
um Mahayana versus the monastic focus of
taravata Buddhism and it gives everyone
an opportunity to obtain liberation
um but what's unique about it is you
know because everything is empty
according to Mahayana even the four
noble truths are empty and so you could
say samayana Buddhists would say that
they're provisional they were given for
a certain time period to help people
um and so it's the blowing out of the
flame that you're looking for it's the
extinguishing of everything and so even
the four noble truths and the Eightfold
way need to be distinguished
extinguished and so it's a difference
with the bodhisattva ideal instead of
the Merit Karma you're looking to uh
bodhisattva to help you with that
extinguishing
and so they have different techniques
that they practice inside of Mayana
again very diverse but these are some
common techniques things like meditation
where you're focusing on something and
trying to clear your mind and realizing
the Dual the non-dual nature of the
world calligraphy and so just slowing
down in the writing helps Focus your
mind and release it from cravings and
desires and also word riddles
um which are things that help your mind
realize absurdity
of kind of the world and we'll talk a
little bit more about those in a little
bit
but with the bodhisattva
um ideal there are these vowels that go
with the bodhisattva vials they're
different versions of these but they're
typically all very similar
and
um there are these four great vows being
our beings are infinite in number I vow
to Free Them All
these passions are endless in number I
vow to end them all
teachings for saving others are endless
in nature and I vow to learn them all
good is this
equipment and I vow to attain it
and so the bodhisattva they say yeah
they're
they're an infinite number of beings and
I'm going to Freed them all which of
course you know anything about
infinite numbers right that's that would
be impossible the obstruction of
passions are endless and number I bound
to end them all and so
um
here they're talking about helping other
people
the teachings for saving others are
endless in nature I've ought to learn
them all again it's just these kind of
absurdities but that's what the
vodhisattva is recognizing the absurdity
um
and leaning into it and saying that they
can they can help people overcome it
because they have realized the truth
they have achieved Liberation and so by
achieving Liberation now they can help
others achieve liberation
and the last one of course that
buddhahood nature which we talked about
um with the diff one of the major
difference between Mayana and teravada
teravada of Buddha is kind of like a
person maybe he had past lives to
achieve Liberation and Mahayana
buddhahood is something that can be
achieved by anybody in some ways shape
or form once they achieve Liberation and
then they choose the bodhisattva past
had a form of Mahayana Buddhism or maybe
its own foreign Buddhism as Tibetan
Buddhism
so their practice is a little bit
different they practice ritual over
meditation they do still value
meditation but what's unique about it is
Enlightenment can it be achieved in one
lifetime through things like tantrism
and
um so tantrism is be like forbidden
practices like eating meat or having sex
what other is unique about Tibetan
Buddhism is how they prep choose the
Dalai Lama and so if somebody does a
project on the Dalai Lama I would guess
that they're going to cover that in a
little more detail about how the Dalai
Lama is chosen but it's a very unique
process where they're trying to identify
who kind of receive the Dalai Lama
Spirit if you would call that when the
Dalai Lama passes they believe it kind
of passes into someone born around that
time period as well
um
one thing about my Ayana Buddhism and
even Tibetan Buddhism is the use of
mandala this is used in tantrism and
mandalas are a replica of the cosmic
world and they can take weeks or months
or years to build I believe this is a
sandman to Oliver is placed in each
grain of sand but then they're destroyed
after the completed to illustrate the
impermanence of everything
and so they represent the cosmic world
but then and they take forever to make
but then they're destroyed to show the
impermanence of everything
um another practice that is common are
prayer wheels and these have different
mantras carved on them so as you walk by
and spin them it's like you're reciting
the mantras I remember being at uh I
think it was the monkey temple in
Kathmandu Nepal and coming across these
prayer wheels and seeing people walking
around and spinning them and so they
have you can see the words there kind of
carved on them those are different
mantras
as well another form of Buddhism is Zen
Buddhism and whereas Tibetan Buddhism
values tradition and rituals then
wouldn't goes the opposite way and
focuses entirely on meditation
this is the idea that you can achieve
immediate Awakening or individual
Enlightenment through meditation
and what's unique about Zen Buddhism is
that it dismisses Scriptures buddhahood
bodhisattvas all for the intuition of
the void and so this idea that you can
kind of sense it through some meditation
and those World riddles and things like
that and um so that Buddhism usually
takes sitting sitting meditation often
for long periods of time to try to
overcome your senses and
um
part of Zen Buddhism is often something
known as a cone and Cone is a word
puzzle to shock your practitioner into
Enlightenment and it helps you see the
non-duality of non-duality in reality
it's not just a word story though it can
often be a short story to cause
reflection and they're usually
nonsensical so I'll give you an example
here when both hands are clapped a sound
is produced listening to the sound of
one listen to the sound of one hand
clapping and so you would sit there and
you would meditate on this over and over
again and in different forms of Zen
Buddhism you know if you start to slouch
your master would come along and hit you
with a staff
and uh kind of Jar you back into focus
and so there's just different ways to
practice Zen Buddhism okay so those are
some of the practices I'm going to talk
about the major religious holiday in
Buddhism
um it's vsoc or vsoc it celebrates the
birth Enlightenment and death of the
Buddha
um
and you can see here this is a picture
from somewhere around probably 2020 or
2021 I've suck and in terravada Buddhism
people go to Temples they listen to a
servant about Buddha's life and his
teaching it's a very colorful festival
and devotees will often burn candles
like you're seeing them here and incense
they bring flowers to the temple to
honor Buddha there's a tradition where
people flower carry flowers candles and
three incense sticks and walk around the
temple three times in A procession which
is I believe what they're doing here to
celebrate each of the three important
events so the birth Enlightenment and
the death Buddha
you can see another
celebration here where they would be
bathing the Buddha and they will often
only wear white clothes as well on vsocs
you can see a vsoc here they're
celebrating it with the flowers and
um just all in a white clothing and I
think you can see the Buddha kind of
there in the background as well and so
that's vsoc one of the most important
religious holidays and
um Buddhism and then in Tibetan Buddhism
vsoc is not just practice one day it
actually goes for a whole month and one
of the uniqueness parts of vsoc is that
the Merit accumulated during vsoc is
worth a whole lot more maybe even a
million times more and so a mini will go
on a pilgrimage they'll try to do all
these types of things during vsoc as a
multiplier think about um you know like
points scored in a video game when you
get a multiplier right and so vsoc is
this time period where it's a multiplier
for the Merit that you've accrued in
Tibetan Buddhism and so it's a major
deal there a full month not just a
festival that lasts a week or not just a
day about a full month that they take to
celebrate Tibetan Buddhism
well um that hopefully gives you some
insight into some of the precepts the
practices uh the unique nature between
taravada and Mayana as well as the
religious holiday of vsoc so hope you
enjoyed these videos on Buddhism
and coupled with what you get in your
book as well as your classmates video I
hope that it serves as a great
introduction to Buddhism for you in our
course
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