Buddhism, demographics, history, beliefs, practices, holidays, and American Buddhism.

1. Announcements
• No classes Fri. Mar 19, and Fri. Apr 2
• Fri. classes will Zoom on Wed. Mar 17, and Wed. Mar 31
• All Classes Zoom beginning April 7 to 16.
• Final Topic “African & American Religions” CLC Presentations

2. What makes a ritual or symbol
Pagan or Christian?

3. KNOW
What it represents
Whom it might offend
Whom it may cause to sin
Is it a sin to for you to use in worship?

4. When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down
from the mountain, the people gathered themselves
together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods
who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who
brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know
what has become of him.” So Aaron said to them, “Take
off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives,
your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
(Exod 32:1–2 ESV)

5. So all the people took off the rings of gold that
were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.
And he received the gold from their hand and
fashioned it with a graving tool and made a
golden calf.
(Exod 32:3–4 ESV)

6. And they said, “This is your God, O
Israel, who brought you up out of the
land of Egypt!”

7. And Aaron made a proclamation and
said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the
LORD (Yahweh).”

8. This is your God Eleh Elohim
Feast to the LORD Hag l’ Yahweh

9. Apis
god of Fertility
Elohim
Yahweh

10. The Ten Commandments (1956)

11. If an unbeliever invites you to dinner and
you…go, eat whatever is set before you without
asking a question…But if someone says to you,
“Look out! This has been offered in sacrifice,”
then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who
told you, and for the sake of their conscience.
(1 Cor 10:23–28 ESV)

12. Try not to offend
Try not to cause someone to sin

13. KNOW
What it represents
Whom it might offend
Whom it may cause to sin
Is it a sin to for you to use in worship?

14. Proper APA Format

15. Mark (2020) says, “The four truths are called ‘noble’ from the original
Arya meaning the same” (para. 5).
“By recognizing the Four Noble Truths and following the precepts of
the Eightfold Path, one is freed from the Wheel of Becoming” (Mark,
2020. para. 5).
References
Mark, J. (2020). Buddhism. World History Encyclopedia.
https://www.ancient.eu/buddhism/

16. Block Quotes

17. History of Buddhism
The Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama, in Lumbini, Nepal in
563 BC (Mark, 2020, para. 1). A prophecy had been given about his birth:
According to Buddhist texts…[Gautama] would become either a powerful
king or great spiritual leader. His father, fearing he would become the latter
if he were exposed to the suffering of the world, protected him from seeing
or experiencing anything unpleasant. (Mark, 2020, para. 2)
From his early life, we learn that the Buddha must have experienced a
protected childhood leading him to inquire about the world outside.

18. Buddhism
Topic 5
Weeks 9 & 10

19. Alan Ginsberg

20. Demographics

21. Demographics
• 488 million Buddhists worldwide
• 7% of the world’s total population
• 3.86 million North America
• 4.81 million Asia
• ___ Buddhists in Phoenix
Pew Research (2012)

22. Pew Research (2012)

23. History

24. Siddhartha
Gautama
563 - 483 BC
Lumbini, Nepal

25. Lumbini, Nepal

26. Siddhartha
Gautama
When he left the palace he encountered
1. An old man
2. A sick man
3. A dead man
4. A religious beggar

27. Siddhartha
Gautama
Under the bodhi tree
Awakened
Buddhah
Middle path

28. Enlightenment
Escape Samsara
Achieve Moksha

29. Path to Enlightenment
• Middle Path
• Freedom from Desire
• Freedom from Attachment to this world

30. From desire comes grief, from grief comes fear
One who is freed from desire knows no grief or fear
Freedom from attachment brings enlightenment
Dhammapada XVI.212-213 cited in Mark, Buddhism, 2020

31. Ashoka the Great
268 - 232 AD
Promoted Buddhism in his kingdom
Led to the spread of Buddhism
throughout Asia.

32. ancient.eu (2020)

33. Beliefs

34. Problem of Suffering

35. Problem with Life
All life is suffering
Suffering is caused by desire
Desire is wanting something we don’t get

36. Three Universal Truths
1. Impermanence - Nothing lasts forever
2. Suffering - All of life is suffering
3. Non-Self - We are a bundle of perceptions

37. Three Goals in Life
1. To be released from samsara – the cycles of reincarnation
2. To achieve Nirvana - elevated state becoming one with universe
3. To achieve Enlightenment - realization and release from desire

38. Four Noble Truths
1. Dukha - All life is suffering
2. Tanha - Cause of suffering is desire
3. Nirodha - End of suffering by letting go of desire
4. Magga - Eightfold path leads to release from desire

39. Eightfold Path
Dharma Wheel
Effort

40. Wheel of Life

41. Wheel hub
• Greed
• Hatred
• Ignorance

42. Wheel Spokes
• Heavenly realm
• Demonic realm
• Ghost realm
• Hell realm
• Animal realm
• Human realm

43. Wheel Rim
• Stages of human
development

45. Buddhist Practices

46. Buddhist Practices
• Meditation - focus and achieving higher state
• Chanting -reciting scriptures
• Mala - String of beads used to maintain focus
• Bowing - sign of respect
• Offerings - leaving gifts like flowers that fade and die

47. Schools of Buddhism

48. First Council
Rajgir India (400 BC)
TIPITAKA - The Three Baskets
The Pali Language

49. Tripitaka
The Triple Basket
The early Sacred Scriptures recorded in
the first century AD of the discourses of
Buddha.

50. Second Council
Vaisali, India (383 BC)
Differences in philosophy
Differences in discipline

51. Split in Buddhism
Theravada Buddhism
Mahayana Buddhism

52. (Corduan, p. 322)

53. Schools of Buddhism
1. Theravada Buddhism (Tradition of the Elders)
2. Mahayana Buddhism (The Great Vehicle)
3. Vajrayana Buddhism (The Way of the Diamond)

54. 1. Theravada
Tradition of the Elders
Pali Language
Southeast Asia

55. Theravada
Practices

56. Theravada Practice
• Religion of the Monks
• Community supports the Monks

57. Theravada Monks
• Orange (yellow) robes
• Shave their heads
• Live in Communes
• Only monks can attain nirvana

58. Theravada Monks
• Meditation
• Beg for food
• Live in Communes in a Temple
• Maintain the temple
• Teach initiates & the community

59. Theravada Goal
Only Monks can become an
Arhat (holy man). The
community supports the
monk to accomplish this goal

60. Theravada Meditation
1. Mindfulness - become aware of your body
2. Focus –on the impermanence of life
3. Focus – on non self
4. To do this empty your mind.

61. Theravada Buddhist Meditation

62. Obligations of Common People
1. Keep the five precepts
2. Support the monks
3. Help maintain the temples

63. Theravada Ten Precepts
Common People
Common People Initiates Monks

64. The Non-Self

65. Anatta:
The non-self, or substance
lessness of the self refers to the
belief that all is impermanent. A
person’s essence is the five
aggregates. Buddha did not say
that the self does not exist. But
there is no permanent self.

66. Non-Self Explained, IDR Labs (2017)

67. The Five Aggregates of Self

68. Do Buddhists Pray to Buddha?

69. Four Buddhas & One to Come
• Kakusandha (the first Buddha of the current bhadrakalpa)
• Koṇāgamana (the second Buddha of the current bhadrakalpa)
• Kassapa (the third Buddha of the current bhadrakalpa)
• Gautama (the fourth and present Buddha of the
current bhadrakalpa)
• Meitreya (the fifth Buddha who has not yet come)

70. Laughing Buddha
Maitreya Buddha
The Buddha Still to Come

71. 2. Mahayana
Great Vehicle
Sanskrit Language
China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan

72. 2. Mahayana
Buddhism for the common people

73. Mahayana Beliefs
• Newer teachings of Buddhism
• Attention on the common people
• Anyone can achieve enlightenment

74. Mahayana Goals
• Achieve personal enlightenment
• Working for the benefit of other people
• Help others achieve enlightenment

75. Mahayana Sanskrit Scriptures
• Diamond Sutra
• Flower Garland Sutra
• Lotus Sutra

76. Six Schools of
Mahayana Buddhism

77. Corduan, p. 328

78. Pure Land Buddhism
Follow the Buddha Amitabha
Those who do will go to the Pure
Land after death.
China, Japan

79. Pure Land Buddhism
Rebirth in the Pure Land

80. Zen Buddhism
Zen means Meditation
Japan

81. Zen Buddhism
• Personal Restraint
• Mindfulness Meditation
• De-emphasizes study of the Sutras
• Emphasizes spiritual practice
• Emphasizes practice applications of Buddhism

82. Vajrayana
Way of the Diamond
Tibetan Buddhism
Uses prayer flags and metal
bowls during meditation

83. Temples

84. Monastery

85. Where monks study

86. Temple

87. Devotees present offerings to statues of flowers or light candles/incense

88. Pagoda

89. Houses relics of holy men, found in Japan

90. Stupa

91. Ancient structures storing relics of Buddha

92. Holidays

93. Dharma Day
(Jin Rou & Hen Sure, 2018)
Celebrated on the full moon in July honoring Buddha’s first teaching on Dharma

94. Buddhist New Year
(Jin Rou & Hen Sure, 2018)
Buddhist New Year is celebrated with great joy and spirit on different days in
different countries. Special food is offered to monks and nuns. Buddha statues are
bathed, houses cleaned, offerings made to ancestors, and lanterns lit to bring good
luck for the coming year. Children bow to their parents and receive red envelopes
with lucky money.

95. Kathina
(Jin Rou & Hen Sure, 2018)
Kathina Ceremony is usually held in October. In the Theravada tradition, monks
and nuns go on a three-month retreat during the rainy season. After the retreat, lay
people offer robes and other necessities to them. This day symbolizes the close
relationship between the sangha and lay people.

96. Guan Yin Celebration
(Jin Rou & Hen Sure, 2018)
Bodhisattva Guan Yin Celebrations: These holidays celebrate the compassion of
the Bodhisattva and are popular in China, Tibet and Nepal. The celebrations are in
the form of worship by reciting Guan Yin’s name and reflecting upon our own
compassionate

97. Ullambana
(Jin Rou & Hen Sure, 2018)
Ullambana: On this day Buddhists make offerings of robes, bedding and daily
needs to the monks and nuns to commemorate the kindness of the Buddha’s
disciple, Maudgalyayana. The Buddha told Maudgalyayana to make offerings to
liberate his mother and others who had fallen into the realm of ghosts. This
tradition of making offerings for dead ancestors is usually observed in August or
September.

98. Wesak
(Jin Rou & Hen Sure, 2018)
Wesak or the Buddha’s birthday is the most important holiday in Buddhism. It falls
on first full moon day in May. On this day, Buddhists clean the temples and
elegantly decorate them with flowers and banners. In Mahayana countries, like
China and Japan, Buddhists pour water scented with flower petals over an image

99. American Buddhism

101. Chinese Immigrants
1800s California
Arrived with Buddhist texts
introduced Buddhism to the
US.

102. Transcendentalism
Ralph Waldo Emmerson
Transcendentalism was a popular
sect that would adopt Buddhist
philosophies.

103. Transcendentalism
Louisa May Alcott

104. Theosophical Society
New York (1875)
This sect adopted Buddhist philosophy was
founded in New York, and would popularize
it.

105. Parliament of World Religions in Chicago (1893)
Charles T. Strauss, in Chicago.

106. Alan Ginsberg
Jewish Buddhist
Popularized Buddhism in the
converted in 1950s
Popularized in the 1960s and
70s among counterculture

107. The Jew & the Lotus
1960s Counterculture

108. Mindfulness Movement

109. Founded the Center for Mindfulness
at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center (1970)

110. Its popularity among medical professionals led to it becoming a
practice in the mental health industry.

111. (Adams, Aalia, Feb 2020)

112. What is okay about Mindfulness
and what are some concerns?

113. Beliefs & Values of
American Buddhists

114. Demographics of American Buddhists
• White (53%)
• Gen X & Baby Boomers (55%)
• College Education (61%)
• Make over $70,000/year (45%)
• Democrats or Politically Liberal (70%)
Pew Research (2017)

115. Pew Research (2017)

116. Pew Research (2017)

117. Pew Research (2017)

118. Beliefs of American Buddhists
• Believe in God or a Divine Being (60%)
• Pray or Meditate Daily or Weekly (66%)
• Never read the Bible (70%)
• Democrats & Liberals (70%)
• Believe in an absolute right or wrong (4%)
• There is no Hell (63%)

119. How do we engage
Buddhists with the Gospel