Buddhism Beliefs
Summary
TLDRThis video provides an insightful overview of core Buddhist beliefs, focusing on Theravada Buddhism and touching on Mahayana differences. It explains concepts like samsara (the cycle of rebirth), suffering, karma, and how ignorance leads to suffering. Key Buddhist teachings such as the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and the Three Jewels are discussed, alongside the contrasts between the Theravada arhat and the Mahayana bodhisattva ideals. The video highlights Buddhism as a middle path and outlines how devotion and self-discipline play different roles in these traditions.
Takeaways
- 🧘♂️ Buddhism is based on the teachings of the Buddha, with beliefs derived from his teachings and the teachings of others who followed him.
- 🌍 Samsara in Buddhism refers to the cycle of death and rebirth, and it's driven by ignorance, which leads to suffering.
- 🎯 The primary problem in Buddhism is ignorance, which causes suffering. Overcoming ignorance leads to escaping the cycle of Samsara.
- ⚖️ Karma plays a role in daily decisions, with both positive and negative consequences. Merit (good deeds) and Karma (bad deeds) accumulate simultaneously.
- 🔄 Buddhism teaches three marks of existence: impermanence (Anicca), suffering (Dukkha), and non-self (Anatta).
- 🍃 The Four Noble Truths outline the nature of suffering, its cause (craving), and the path to ending suffering through Nirvana.
- 🛤️ The Eightfold Path, split into wisdom, morality, and concentration, is the path to wisdom, freedom from suffering, and ultimately Nirvana.
- ⚖️ Theravada Buddhism emphasizes self-discipline with the Arhat as the ideal, while Mahayana Buddhism highlights the Bodhisattva ideal, which focuses on helping others achieve enlightenment.
- 🕉️ Mahayana Buddhism opens the path to Nirvana for both monks and laypeople through faith and devotion, while Theravada is focused on monks achieving liberation.
- 💎 Buddhists take refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (Buddha's teachings), and the Sangha (the community).
Q & A
What is the primary focus of the video script?
-The video script focuses on providing an overview of Buddhist beliefs, particularly from a Theravada perspective, and highlighting key differences between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.
What is samsara in Buddhism?
-Samsara is the cycle of death and rebirth, which is driven by ignorance and characterized by suffering. The goal in Buddhism is to escape this cycle by overcoming ignorance and suffering.
How does karma function in Buddhism according to the video?
-In Buddhism, karma relates to one's daily choices and actions. Positive deeds lead to positive consequences (merit), while negative deeds lead to negative karma. Both positive and negative actions have consequences in samsara.
What are the three marks of existence in Buddhism?
-The three marks of existence are impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), and non-self (anatta). Impermanence means everything is subject to change, suffering is caused by cravings, and non-self refers to the idea that there is no permanent soul or self.
What are the Four Noble Truths in Buddhism?
-The Four Noble Truths are: 1) Life is suffering (dukkha), 2) Suffering is caused by craving, 3) The end of suffering is achievable by putting an end to craving, and 4) The path to end suffering is through following the Eightfold Path.
What is the Eightfold Path in Buddhism?
-The Eightfold Path is a guide to achieving wisdom and Nirvana. It includes: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. These are grouped into wisdom, ethics, and concentration.
What are the two types of Nirvana mentioned in the video?
-The two types of Nirvana are: 1) Nirvana experienced while still alive after achieving enlightenment, like Buddha did, and 2) Nirvana experienced after fully leaving the cycle of samsara, after death.
What is the role of the Three Jewels in Buddhism?
-The Three Jewels are central elements in Buddhism: 1) The Buddha, who founded Buddhism, 2) The Dharma, which is the teachings or law of nature given by the Buddha, and 3) The Sangha, the community of monks and practitioners working together towards liberation.
What is the main difference between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism?
-Theravada Buddhism emphasizes self-discipline and the attainment of enlightenment for oneself, with the arhat as the ideal. Mahayana Buddhism focuses on faith and devotion, with the bodhisattva ideal, where enlightened beings help others achieve enlightenment instead of moving on to Nirvana themselves.
How does the video describe the concept of the Middle Way in Buddhism?
-The Middle Way refers to avoiding the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. It is also a metaphysical view that recognizes the impermanent and changing nature of all things, rejecting the duality of existence and non-existence.
Outlines
🧘 Introduction to Buddhist Beliefs
This paragraph sets the stage for a discussion on Buddhist beliefs, focusing on Theravada Buddhism. It explains that Buddhism's teachings are derived from the Buddha and his followers. The video aims to explore the foundational beliefs, starting with the Theravada perspective, which emphasizes the 'way of the elders,' and will later highlight the differences with Mahayana Buddhism, known as the 'Great Vehicle.'
🔄 Samsara: The Cycle of Rebirth and Suffering
The paragraph explains the concept of samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth driven by ignorance, which leads to suffering. It discusses how ignorance causes us to remain trapped in samsara and highlights that understanding the 'middle way' is essential to break free from this cycle. Karma is also discussed, showing how one's actions, both good and bad, accumulate consequences in life. The paragraph emphasizes how individuals must balance karma and merit to navigate through samsara.
⚖️ The Karma Account and Buddhist Imagery
This section delves deeper into the consequences of karma, using vivid imagery such as torture and suffering to depict the negative results of bad karma. It describes the idea that people may live in a 'heaven-like' state when they have accrued positive karma but will eventually face the consequences of their negative actions once positive karma is depleted. The concept of merit transfer, where one can improve the karma of deceased relatives, is also introduced.
📜 The Three Marks of Existence
This paragraph introduces the 'Three Marks of Existence,' key truths about reality according to Buddhism. These are impermanence (Anicca), suffering (Dukkha), and non-self (Anatta). It explains that everything is subject to change, suffering is caused by cravings and desires, and there is no permanent self or soul, only a collection of mental and physical elements shaped by karma. These insights help Buddhists understand the nature of the world and guide them toward enlightenment.
🏞️ The Four Noble Truths: Understanding Suffering
Here, the focus shifts to the Four Noble Truths taught by the Buddha. The truths explain the nature of suffering (dukkha), its causes (craving and desire), the possibility of ending it (nirvana), and the path to ending suffering (the Eightfold Path). The paragraph details the different types of cravings that cause suffering and introduces Nirvana, the state of liberation, which can be experienced either while alive or upon exiting samsara.
🛤️ The Eightfold Path: The Way to Nirvana
This paragraph explains the Eightfold Path, which provides a roadmap for escaping samsara and achieving Nirvana. It is broken into three categories: wisdom, ethics, and concentration. The path includes right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Each element contributes to overcoming ignorance and cravings, ultimately leading to enlightenment.
⚖️ Buddhism as the Middle Way
The concept of Buddhism as the 'Middle Way' is introduced, explaining that it avoids extremes such as indulgence in pleasure or complete renunciation. It also presents a middle ground between views of eternal existence and non-existence, emphasizing the impermanent and ever-changing nature of reality. Nirvana is described as a state beyond duality, offering a non-dualistic worldview.
💎 The Three Jewels of Buddhism
This section introduces the 'Three Jewels' that Buddhists take refuge in: the Buddha, the Dharma (his teachings and the laws of nature), and the Sangha (the community of practitioners, especially monks). These form the foundation of Buddhist practice and support individuals on their path toward enlightenment. The Sangha is highlighted as a communal effort toward liberation, where monks and practitioners work together.
🧑🦲 Mahayana vs Theravada: The Arhat and Bodhisattva Ideals
This paragraph outlines key differences between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. In Theravada, the Arhat ideal is prominent, focusing on self-discipline to achieve enlightenment and move on to Nirvana. In contrast, Mahayana emphasizes the Bodhisattva ideal, where enlightened beings delay their entry into Nirvana to help others achieve enlightenment. This introduces the concept of faith and devotion, which opens the path to Nirvana for laypeople as well.
🙏 The Role of Faith and Devotion in Mahayana Buddhism
Mahayana Buddhism is discussed further, emphasizing how faith and devotion to Bodhisattvas can help individuals achieve enlightenment. This makes Nirvana more accessible to laypeople, in contrast to Theravada Buddhism, which emphasizes personal effort and self-discipline. Mahayana’s broader and more flexible approach allows for a greater variety of beliefs and practices, including devotion to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as spiritual guides.
🛤️ The Diversity of Buddhist Schools
The final paragraph discusses the different schools of Buddhism, showing how the tradition has split into various branches, including Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana (Tibetan Buddhism). While Theravada focuses on personal effort, Mahayana introduces faith and devotion, and Vajrayana adds esoteric elements. The chart mentioned symbolizes the complexity and diversity within Buddhism, suggesting that each school offers unique perspectives on the path to enlightenment.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Samsara
💡Ignorance
💡Karma
💡Merit
💡Impermanence (Anicca)
💡Suffering (Dukkha)
💡No-Self (Anatta)
💡Four Noble Truths
💡Eightfold Path
💡Nirvana
💡Theravada Buddhism
💡Mahayana Buddhism
💡Bodhisattva
Highlights
Buddhism begins with the teachings of Buddha and those who followed him.
Theravada Buddhism, the way of the elders, is the starting point for understanding core beliefs.
Buddhism shares the concept of samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth, with Hinduism.
Ignorance is the root cause of suffering in Buddhism.
The Middle Way is the path to overcoming ignorance and escaping samsara.
Karma is tied to daily choices and has both positive (merit) and negative aspects.
Buddhism teaches that actions have consequences in the cycle of samsara.
In Theravada Buddhism, one can make positive contributions to the karmic accounts of ancestors.
The three marks of existence in Buddhism are impermanence, suffering, and non-self.
The Four Noble Truths are central to Buddhist teachings.
Cravings or desires are identified as the cause of suffering.
Nirvana is the state of being free from suffering and craving.
The Eightfold Path is the practical guide to achieving wisdom and Nirvana.
The Middle Way also refers to a balanced life, avoiding extremes of pleasure and self-mortification.
Buddhists take refuge in the Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism differ in their ideals and practices.
Mahayana Buddhism introduces the bodhisattva ideal, in contrast to the arhat of Theravada.
Faith and devotion play a significant role in Mahayana Buddhism, alongside self-discipline.
Nirvana is accessible to laypersons in Mahayana Buddhism through faith and devotion.
Buddhism has diversified into various schools, each with distinct beliefs and practices.
Transcripts
all right well we are back with more
Buddhism and we've already talked about
it kind of doing an intro of Buddhism
and a brief overview of its history
we're going to jump into an overview
of beliefs in this video and
um so let's jump in well
um
let's remember that Buddhism starts with
a Buddha and so these beliefs are based
on what he taught in the teaching of
others who followed him so we're going
to cover the core elements starting
primarily from a theravada perspective
which is kind of the way of the elders
and then we'll talk about some of the
key differences between Mahayana and
teravada so we're going to be starting
with taravada I'm going to outlining
getting that as our base for belief and
then we'll point out some of the key
differences between
Mahayana which was the great vehicle or
the large raft and taravada which is the
way of the elders
so
um
we talked in
Hinduism about the kind of the wheel of
samsara and so
Buddhism has that as well it's a cycle
of death and rebirth
and why the cycle those you're like okay
why does it exist
um
well it comes from ignorance
and so it's it's because we don't have
the right knowledge and it's
characterized by suffering so it's
because we don't have the right
knowledge we suffer
and so in its simplest form Buddhism
says you know what's gone wrong with the
world with is that the pro the big
problem is ignorance and ignorance
causes suffering and so these are two
foundational elements of Buddhism
well so how do you get out of samsara
how do you escape the cycle of death and
rebirth well it's gained by overcoming
Ignorance by understanding the middle
way
and so there's still an element of karma
to this
and Karma relates to the choices you
make every day
am I going to squish this bug like cut
off another driver
have I given money to the poor or monks
right so someone described the positive
accrual as Merit and the negative is
karma but again it's more like two
accounts in a scale it's not that you
want your good deeds to outweigh the bad
it's that you're going to reap the
samsaraic consequences of both your good
and bad Deeds and so you have two
ledgers kind of going up at the same
time you're good and you're bad that you
have to deal with
and this is where your actions take you
it's a great representation of what's
going on you have on one side
well you have here the negative
consequences it's where you pay for your
Bad Karma and so you see people Shackled
you see people in a Boiling Pot
sometimes on these in temples you'll see
people impaled on poles and so it's
interesting I was completely surprised
by this the first time I was in Thailand
um
and went to a Buddhist temple and you
just see basically art in this form that
kind of looks like torture
and I was talking to someone they're
like yeah that's the the consequences of
your negative Karma
and um something else interesting as
that I learned on that trip is
um you know you have the positive Karma
which are the good things and those keep
you in this state go through what we'd
consider heaven and then you have this
negative state that you're burning off
your negative consequences typically you
live off your positive first and once
you run out of that you know you run on
but you can't pay your bills anymore to
live in the good place you go to the bad
place and have to pay off your debts
there well
um
in many forms of terravada Buddhism you
can keep putting things into the
accounts the positive accounts of your
parents your grandparents and your
great-grandparents so not only are you
trying to put positive things in your
own account now you have to put positive
things and you're carrying the weight of
doing that for people who are already
dead and otherwise they're going to end
up here and so that's um
one of the unique elements
so
um back into the kind of the beliefs
idea as you have this ignorance thing so
what are what do you need to gain
knowledge of and so there are three
marks of his existence these are three
things that are just true about the
world
and the first one is impermanence and
this is the word
Nikka and this is the idea that
everything is subject to change there's
no permanent or unchanging cause behind
everything
so everything is impermanent there is no
final permanent thing like a god behind
things
the next Mark is suffering
herduka and um suffering is the things
in our life that cause us to Crave
um no suffering is caused by Cravings as
I meant to say so we have these desires
inside of us so we desire something else
when we don't get our desires that's
where suffering comes from and so it's
even like uh you know I desire I'm
thirsty well I I desire water
well I'm suffering now because I'm
thirsty
or I desire to live pain free will not
have to suffer because I'm trying to
actually live pain-free
it's things like that and then the last
one is nada there's no such thing as a
soul and so it's nothing independent or
permanent about me
there's no soul self there's no soul
there's only a living complex a mental
and physical elements
just keep going on and on and on and our
Karma kind of accrues to our mental and
physical elements until we can come back
and realize break free from our
ignorance
and ours in our suffering
so how do we do this well the way we can
get we start to understand is through
the Buddha taught the four noble truths
remember so
um Buddha taught these four normal
truths in the deer park right after he
had um
become enlightened
and so the truth of suffering and that
this is the idea that life is suffering
life is Duca uh it just means life
doesn't satisfy us there are things
wrong with our experience of life right
we all know this to be true it's not
perfect
but then there's the truth of the cause
of suffering so what has caused this
suffering well that's craving or desire
we talked about that a little bit
the Buddha talked about three different
types of Cravings
um cravings for our senses
um so that's like I'm hungry so I want
to eat I'm thirsty I want to drink I see
something that I want see my eyes I take
it you know different things like that
um then there's the kind of craving of
wanting to be something you aren't yet
so it's like you know if I uh want to be
able to
um you know run a six minute mile will
that be a type of craving if I wanted to
um yeah
be a father well that's a different kind
of create something I'm not yet those
are the types of craving and then the
other craving is for something to stop
right like
um maybe I have back pain all the time
and I want that to stop so those are the
three different kinds of Cravings
Cravings to please your senses crazy for
something you want
something you aren't yet and for
something to stop
and so the truth to the end of suffering
and that
um
as what we've talked about a little bit
but the key thing is not understanding
your Cravings is how you get stuck in
some sorrow
and so the truth the end the suffering
well what's the way to end suffering
and this is naroda and you put a crave
to this this is putting an end to
craving and this is when you experience
Nirvana
and there are two types of Nirvana so
once you there are two ways two things
that happen when you put it into craving
um the first is when you realize the
truth about suffering and are still
alive so you still have a body right
this is the Buddha was still alive still
teaching and then there's a type that
happens when you actually finally exit
the wheel of samsara when you leave your
body so two types about it
and the truth of the pain of the path
that sets us free from suffering this is
known as the Eightfold Path and this is
the way to wisdom and Nirvana so these
first three are kind of like okay now
you understand the problem that you're
facing and the fourth one is okay let me
tell you how to get out of the problem
and so
hateful path is broken up into a few
categories the first is with them so
this is the right view of via reality as
it is not just as it appears to be these
are your marks of existence and then
your right in tension and this is the
intention to go after freedom to
renounce
your craving
and then there's the next things which
can be put under morality or ethics
right speech speaking in a truthful and
non-heardful way
right action which would be acting in a
darn harmful way
and write livelihood which is a
non-harmful livelihood and so it's a
um
so right livelihood would be like you're
not
a drug lord or maybe you don't
um
you know sell or produce weapons or
something like that something I'd be
considered
um harmful to other people
and then you have the last thing was
just a concentration it's a right effort
is making an effort to improve doing the
right things right mindfulness is
continuing to see things as they are
and so you have a you're understanding
the reality inside of yourself without
craving
and then right concentration is correct
meditation or concentration
and so um you can see they kind of
broken up into three categories and I'm
sure your reading covers this more in
depth as well and so you can um you know
give you some other ways to think about
these but this is the Eightfold Path so
you have the Four Noble Truths and the
last Noble Truth is that you have to
follow the Eightfold Path so this is how
you follow it the Eightfold Path is
often represented by a wheel like this
it's the escape from the wheel of some
sorrow
and this one is in that Deer Park in
Varanasi and so this the wheel can often
be kind of civil a Buddhism in some ways
with the Eightfold Path
um we talked about Buddhism is known as
the middle way and so
um
there are a few different ways that it's
a middle way the first one is it's not a
life of extremism and so it's not all
about pleasure which the Buddha
experienced you know growing up the
palace but it's not all about asceticism
or mortification or renouncing things
and this it's a middle way it's not on
one end of the other
um
and it's a kind of a middle way
metaphysically on the views of existence
or non-existence and remember there's
this impermanent nature to it so
everything is changing so it's not that
everything exists internally or if
there's nothing exists but instead
everything is changing
and um
and so Nirvana really is this idea that
any type of Duality is Just an Illusion
or to lose three and so there are it's a
it's a non-dualistic worldview
um so
uh Buddhists would say that they take
refuge in the three jewels and the first
jewel is the Buddha himself
we've already talked about his important
role
as the founder of Buddhism the second
one is the Dharma the Dharma is the
teachings or law of nature as given by
the Buddha and this is kind of the
ultimate sustaining reality and so the
Buddha taught on what is the nature of
reality from our four questions right he
talked about that and the Dharma would
be his teachings on that and
um you know the three marks of existence
the four noble truce the hateful path
those type of things are all wrapped up
in the Dharma and then the Sangha I
already mentioned this term to you
earlier but this is the community and so
monks are often are communal Buddhist
monks are communal people and so they
work on Liberation together as well
so these are the three jewels
and here is kind of a typical picture of
the saffron robes that Buddhist smokes
wear and this is um you know a view of
the Sega and their Community there
so let's talk about some of the
differences between Mahayana theravada
Buddhism
um well Mahi teravada Buddhism has an
arha ideal and Mahayana has a
bodhisattva ideal and this is actually
one of kind of the bigger differences
um
our hot is uh someone who achieves
Enlightenment and then moves on so they
achieve enlightenment they live out
their life and then when they leave
their their physical body they move on
into the nothingness and Nirvana well
abode
is someone who achieves Enlightenment in
this life
and then maybe instead of moving on to
complete nothingness they choose to
continue to exist in a this bodhisattva
state
to help other people achieve
enlightenment and so it's almost like
this um kind of a
deity idea where you a person achieved
Enlightenment but they decide not to
fully go into Nirvana so they can help
others
so that's kind of the top tier
difference between the two but then it
it shows itself in many different ways
so one is the way of self-discipline
well if the r hot is the ideal for
taravada Buddhism then you can see how
your life is really a life of
self-discipline because you're relying
on yourself to achieve
um Nirvana
but with Mahayana Buddhism and the
bodhisattva ideal now you have something
else to help you achieve Nirvana so
there's an element of faith and Devotion
to a bodhisattva to kind of help you
achieve that devotion
and when the self-discipline versus the
faith and devotion now Nirvana becomes
open to different types of people
whereas um if Nirvana is
kind of restricted to self-discipline
will the people who do that are the
monks so in terravada Buddhism only a
monk can achieve Liberation while in
Mayana Buddhism a lay person because of
their faith and Devotion to the
bodhisattva ideal
um
allows for
someone then to achieve liberation
and so um
essentially you have there a lot of
Buddhists try to stick as closely to
what they think the Buddha said to do
they take his advice literally and are
very concerned about it they're trying
to do it all via effort
Marianas take a different approach and
approach of faith and devotion I want to
say a step away from being tied to the
steps of the Buddha it really opens up
significant opportunities for Change and
diversity and how it works and so you'll
see as we get into Mahayana Buddha is a
little different
you know they're a little
it can almost feel like it's not even
necessarily original theravada
historical the way the Elder's Buddhism
and so taravada Buddhists see the Buddha
as one person who died and achieved
Nirvana whereas
Mayana would see elements of the Buddha
and the Buddha Essence all around us
still and something we can rely on for
Nirvana ourselves through the
bodhisattvas so those are kind of the
big pit differences
between the two of course there are more
the deeper you get into it the more
you can find and so I just want to pull
I just did a Google Search and found
this kind of chart I haven't fact
checked it or anything but my main goal
in showing you this chart is kind of how
things split inside of Buddhism and so
this shows it has three different
schools I mentioned some people see it
there's only two some people have seen
as three as you get into it you see it
kind of splitting into different
elements and um teravada Buddhism will
all be that kind of way of effort and
Mahayana Buddhism splits into different
ways I can feel very different and then
you have the Asiana which is more of
that Tibetan style Buddhism
esoteric type things and so this just
gives you like we're just scratching the
surface we talk about beliefs you could
have a class on each of these
different
schools had still not even covered them
entirely
okay so that's an overview of Buddhist
beliefs again just an overview this is
an intro class you'll pick up some more
about Buddhist beliefs in your reading
and also through the city and people
videos
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