1.
Wat Chedi Liam
–
Wat Chedi Liam is one of the wats in the ancient Thai city of Wiang Kum Kam, now part of present-day Chiang Mai. The original name Wat Ku Kham means The temple of the Gold Chedi, the temple was built c.1287 and remained in use during the early Lan Na period after the new city of Chiang Mai had been established by King Mangrai the Great. The current buildings are from a renovation in 1908 CE by a Burmese trader, because of this many of the decorations of the wat are Burmese in style. For example, all but one of the Buddha images on the chedi are wearing the yellow Burmese colourings rather than the white Thai colours, the chedi was also renovated in 1992 CE when a number of other improvements were made to the site. Not all of these improvements were popular, nor were some needed repairs carried out, despite its great age the wat is used in much the same way as later wats. The Chedi is a design common in the early Lanna period. Each corner of the chedi is guarded by a large, outward facing lion, the main hall decorations are in very good condition both inside and out. History of Wiang Kum Kam & Ancient remains - Anonymous
2.
Cambodia
–
Cambodia, officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is 181,035 square kilometres in area, bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia has a population of over 15 million. The official religion is Theravada Buddhism, practiced by approximately 95 percent of the population, the countrys minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams, and 30 hill tribes. The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh, the political, economic, the kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with Norodom Sihamoni, a monarch chosen by the Royal Throne Council, as head of state. The head of government is Hun Sen, who is currently the longest serving leader in South East Asia and has ruled Cambodia for over 25 years. In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name Kambuja. The Indianized kingdom built monumental temples including Angkor Wat, now a World Heritage Site, after the fall of Angkor to Ayutthaya in the 15th century, a reduced and weakened Cambodia was then ruled as a vassal state by its neighbours. In 1863 Cambodia became a protectorate of France which doubled the size of the country by reclaiming the north, the Vietnam War extended into the country with the US bombing of Cambodia from 1969 until 1973. Following the Cambodian coup of 1970, the king gave his support to his former enemies. Following the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, Cambodia was governed briefly by a United Nations mission, the UN withdrew after holding elections in which around 90 percent of the registered voters cast ballots. The 1997 coup placed power solely in the hands of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian Peoples Party, important sociopolitical issues includes widespread poverty, pervasive corruption, lack of political freedoms, low human development, and a high rate of hunger. While per capita income remains low compared to most neighbouring countries, agriculture remains the dominant economic sector, with strong growth in textiles, construction, garments, and tourism leading to increased foreign investment and international trade. Cambodia scored dismally in an annual index ranking the rule of law in 102 countries, placing 99th overall, Cambodia also faces environmental destruction as an imminent problem. The most severe activity in this regard is considered to be the countrywide deforestation, the Kingdom of Cambodia is the official English name of the country. The English Cambodia is an anglicisation of the French Cambodge, which in turn is the French transliteration of the Khmer Kampuchea, Kampuchea is the shortened alternative to the countrys official name in Khmer, Preah Reacheanachak Kampuchea. The Khmer endonym Kampuchea derives from the Sanskrit name Kambujadeśa, composed of देश, desa and कम्बोज, Kambujas, colloquially, Cambodians refer to their country as either Srok Khmer, meaning Khmers Land, or the slightly more formal Prateh Kampuchea, literally Country of Kampuchea. The name Cambodia is used most often in the Western world while Kampuchea is more used in the East. Excavations in its lower layers produced a series of dates as of 6000 BC
3.
Laos
–
Present day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to the kingdom of Lan Xang Hom Khao, which existed for four centuries as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Due to Lan Xangs central geographical location in Southeast Asia, the kingdom was able to become a hub for overland trade. After a period of conflict, Lan Xang broke off into three separate kingdoms— Luang Phabang, Vientiane and Champasak. In 1893, it became a French protectorate, with the three territories uniting to form what is now known as the country of Laos and it briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation, but returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949. Laos became independent in 1953, with a monarchy under Sisavang Vong. Shortly after independence, a civil war ended the monarchy. Laos is a one-party socialist republic and it espouses Marxism and is governed by the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party, in which the party leadership is dominated by military figures. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Vietnam Peoples Army continue to have significant influence in Laos, other large cities include Luang Prabang, Savannakhet, and Pakse. Laos is a country with the politically and culturally dominant Lao people making up approximately 60 percent of the population. Mon-Khmer groups, the Hmong, and other hill tribes, accounting for 40 percent of the population, live in the foothills. It is a member of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, East Asia Summit, Laos applied for membership of the World Trade Organization in 1997, on 2 February 2013, it was granted full membership. According to the anti-corruption non-governmental organisation Transparency International, Laos remains one of the most corrupt countries in the world and this has deterred foreign investment and created major problems with the rule of law, including the nations ability to enforce contract and business regulation. This has contributed to a third of the population of Laos currently living below the poverty line. Laos has an economy, with one of the lowest annual incomes in the world. In 2014, the country ranked 141st on the Human Development Index, according to the Global Hunger Index, Laos ranks as the 29th hungriest nation in the world out of the list of the 52 nations with the worst hunger situation. Laos has also had a human rights record. In the Lao language, the name is Muang Lao or Pathet Lao. Stone artefacts including Hoabinhian types have been found at sites dating to the Late Pleistocene in northern Laos, archaeological evidence suggests agriculturist society developed during the 4th millennium BC
4.
Myanmar
–
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a sovereign state in South East Asia bordered by Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. About one third of Myanmars total perimeter of 5,876 km, forms an uninterrupted coastline of 1,930 km along the Bay of Bengal, the countrys 2014 census revealed a much lower population than expected, with 51 million people recorded. Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometres in size and its capital city is Naypyidaw and its largest city and former capital city is Yangon. Early civilizations in Myanmar included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Burma, the Pagan Kingdom fell due to the Mongol invasions and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur. The British invaded Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the became a British colony. Myanmar became an independent nation in 1948, initially as a nation and then, following a coup détat in 1962. For most of its independent years, the country has been engrossed in rampant ethnic strife, during this time, the United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations in the country. In 2011, the junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election. While former military leaders still wield enormous power in the country, there is, however, continuing criticism of the governments treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority and its poor response to the religious clashes. In the landmark 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyis party won a majority in both houses, Myanmar is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. In 2013, its GDP stood at US$56.7 billion, the income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by supporters of the former military government. As of 2016, according to the Human Development Index, Myanmar had a level of human development. The renaming remains a contested issue, many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use Burma because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government or its authority to rename the country. The countrys official name is the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Countries that do not officially recognise that name use the long form Union of Burma instead, in English, the country is popularly known as either Burma or Myanmar /ˈmjɑːnˌmɑːr/. Both these names are derived from the name of the majority Burmese Bamar ethnic group, Myanmar is considered to be the literary form of the name of the group, while Burma is derived from Bamar, the colloquial form of the groups name
5.
Sri Lanka
–
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia near south-east India. Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest, Sri Lankas documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II. Sri Lanka was known from the beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as Ceylon, Sri Lankas recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when the Sri Lankan military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, in addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a semi-presidential system. The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the capital and largest city. Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of the two countries in South Asia that are rated among high human development on the Human Development Index. In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names, according to the Mahavamsa, the legendary Prince Vijaya named the land Tambapanni, because his followers hands were reddened by the red soil of the area. In Hindu mythology, such as the Mahabharata, the island was referred to as Lankā, in Tamil, the island is referred to as Eelam. Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobanā or Taprobanē from the word Tambapanni, as a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon, it achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. The country is known in Sinhalese as Śrī Laṃkā and in Tamil as Ilaṅkai, in 1972, its formal name was changed to Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. Later in 1978 it was changed to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, as the name Ceylon still appears in the names of a number of organisations, the Sri Lankan government announced in 2011 a plan to rename all those over which it has authority. The pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years, the era spans the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron Ages. Among the Paleolithic human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, Pahiyangala and it is said that Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful emperor who built a mythical flying machine named Dandu Monara. The modern city of Wariyapola is described as Ravanas airport, early inhabitants of Sri Lanka were probably ancestors of the Vedda people, an indigenous people numbering approximately 2,500 living in modern-day Sri Lanka. According to the Mahāvamsa, a written in Pāḷi, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are the Yakshas and Nagas. Ancient cemeteries that were used before 600BC and other signs of advanced civilization has also discovered in Sri Lanka
6.
Thailand
–
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is a country at the centre of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia. With a total area of approximately 513,000 km2, Thailand is the worlds 51st-largest country and it is the 20th-most-populous country in the world, with around 66 million people. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and has switched between parliamentary democracy and military junta for decades, the latest coup being in May 2014 by the National Council for Peace and Order. Its capital and most populous city is Bangkok and its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. The Thai economy is the worlds 20th largest by GDP at PPP and it became a newly industrialised country and a major exporter in the 1990s. Manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are leading sectors of the economy and it is considered a middle power in the region and around the world. The country has always been called Mueang Thai by its citizens, by outsiders prior to 1949, it was usually known by the exonym Siam. The word Siam has been identified with the Sanskrit Śyāma, the names Shan and A-hom seem to be variants of the same word. The word Śyâma is possibly not its origin, but a learned, another theory is the name derives from Chinese, Ayutthaya emerged as a dominant centre in the late fourteenth century. The Chinese called this region Xian, which the Portuguese converted into Siam, the signature of King Mongkut reads SPPM Mongkut King of the Siamese, giving the name Siam official status until 24 June 1939 when it was changed to Thailand. Thailand was renamed Siam from 1945 to 11 May 1949, after which it reverted to Thailand. According to George Cœdès, the word Thai means free man in the Thai language, ratcha Anachak Thai means kingdom of Thailand or kingdom of Thai. Etymologically, its components are, ratcha, -ana- -chak, the Thai National Anthem, written by Luang Saranupraphan during the extremely patriotic 1930s, refers to the Thai nation as, prathet Thai. The first line of the anthem is, prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai, Thailand is the unity of Thai flesh. There is evidence of habitation in Thailand that has been dated at 40,000 years before the present. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, Thailand was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, Thailand in its earliest days was under the rule of the Khmer Empire, which had strong Hindu roots, and the influence among Thais remains even today. Voretzsch believes that Buddhism must have been flowing into Siam from India in the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire, later Thailand was influenced by the south Indian Pallava dynasty and north Indian Gupta Empire. The Menam Basin was originally populated by the Mons, and the location of Dvaravati in the 7th century, the History of the Yuan mentions an embassy from the kingdom of Sukhothai in 1282
7.
Kandy Esala Perahera
–
The Kandy Esala Perahera also known as The Festival of the Tooth is a grand festival celebrated with elegant costumes and is held in July and August in Kandy, Sri Lanka. This historical procession is held annually to pay homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha, the festival ends with the traditional diya-kepeema ritual, a water cutting ceremony which is held at the Mahaweli River at Getambe, Kandy. The Esala is believed to be a fusion of two separate but interconnected Peraheras – The Esala and Dalada, the Esala Perahera, which is thought to date back to the 3rd century BC, was a ritual enacted to request the gods for rainfall. According to tradition, the Tooth Relic was taken in procession to Sri Lanka by Princess Hemamala & Prince Dantha, the Modern Perahera dates back to the reign of the Kandyan King, Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe. During these times, the Tooth Relic was considered property of the King. However, King Rajasinghe decreed that the Relic be taken in procession for the masses to see, after the Kandyan Kingdom fell to the British in 1815, the custody of the Relic was handed over to the Maha Sanga. In the absence of the king, a chief lay custodian called the Diyawadana Nilame was appointed to handle administrative matters. Traditionally it was meant to shower blessing on the King and the people, on the sixth night, the Kumbal Perahera begins and continues on for five days. Whip-crackers and fireball acrobats clear the path, followed by the Buddhist flag bearers, then, riding on the first elephant, is the official called Peramuna Rala. He is followed by Kandyan Drummers and Dancers who enthrall the crowd, a group of singers dressed in white heralds the arrival of the Maligawa Tusker carrying the Sacred Tooth Relic. The Diyawadana Nilame walks in traditional Kandyan-clothed splendor after the tusker, the second procession is from the Natha Devale, which faces the Sri Dalada Maligawa and is said to be the oldest building in Kandy, dating back to the 14th Century. The third is from the Vishnu Devale, also known as the Maha Devale and it is situated in front of the main gate of the Natha Devale. The fourth procession is from the Katharagama Devale which is on Kottugodalle Vidiya and this procession includes Kavadi, the peacock dance, in which the pilgrim-dances carry semicircular wooden contraptions studded with peacock feathers on their shoulders. The fifth and final procession is from the Pattini Devale, which is situated to the West of the Natha Devale and this is the only procession that has women dances. The following important times are announced by the firing of cannonballs, Randoli refers to palanquins on which the Queens of the ruling Kings traditionally traveled. 2016 Kandy Esala Maha Perahera was held on 17 August 2016, after a further five nights of the Randoli Perahera, the pageant ends with the Diya Kepeema, which is the water cutting ceremony at the Mahaweli River at Getambe, a town a few miles from Kandy. A Day Perahera is held to mark the ceremony and he first gets the auspicious time from the Nekath Mohottala, the advisor on astrological matters. The task of organising the different types of drummers is handed over to the four known as the Panikka Mura Baarakaruwo
8.
Tshechu
–
Tshechu are annual religious Bhutanese festivals held in each district or dzongkhag of Bhutan on the tenth day of a month of the lunar Tibetan calendar. The month depends on the place, tshechus are religious festivals of the Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Tshechus are large gatherings, which perform the function of social bonding among people of remote. Large markets also congregate at the locations, leading to brisk commerce. The Thimphu tshechu and tha Paro tshechu are among the biggest of the tshechus in terms of participation, the focal point of the tshechus are Cham dances. These costumed, masked dances typically are moral vignettes, or based on incidents from the life of the 9th century Nyingma teacher Padmasambhava, the thongdrel is raised before dawn and rolled down by morning. Because tshechus depend on the availability of masked dancers, registered dancers are subject to fine if they refuse to perform during festivals, Padmasambhava, the great scholar, visited Tibet and Bhutan in the 8th century and 9th century. He used to convert opponents of Buddhism by performing rites, reciting mantras and finally performing a dance of subjugation to conquer local spirits and he visited Bhutan to aid the dying king Sindhu Raja. Padmasambhava performed a series of dances in the Bumthang Valley to restore the health of the king. The grateful king helped spread Buddhism in Bhutan, Padmasambhava organized the first tshechu in Bumthang, where the eight manifestations of Padmasambhava were presented through eight forms of dances. These became the Cham dances depicting the glory of Padmasambhava, the dance schedule for each day of the four-day festival is set out and generally consists of the following dances. The last day of the festival also marks the unfurling of the Thongdrel, a very large scroll painting or thangka. This painting measuring 30 metres ×45 metres has the images of Padmasambhava at the centre flanked by his two consorts and also his eight incarnations, devotees who gather to witness this occasion offer obeisance in front of the Thongdrel seeking blessings. Folk dances are performed on the occasion, before sunrise, the painting is rolled up and kept in the Dzong before it is displayed again one year later. Below is a list of major tshechus in Bhutan, along with their 2011 dates, dates in other years will vary. The Bhutanese film Travellers and Magicians is set among a group of travellers, list of Buddhist festivals Poya, similar concept in Sri Lanka however revolves around the cycle of the full moon of the lunar calendar
9.
Buddhism
–
Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
10.
Dharmachakra
–
The dharmachakra is one of the Ashtamangala of Indian religions such as Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. It has represented the Buddhist dharma, Gautama Buddhas teaching of the path to Nirvana and it is also connected to the Noble Eightfold Path. The Sanskrit noun dharma is a derivation from the root dhṛ, which has a meaning of to hold, maintain, keep, and takes a meaning of what is established or firm, and hence law. It is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit n-stem dharman- with the bearer, supporter in the historical Vedic religion conceived of as an aspect of Ṛta. The wheel is also the main attribute of Vishnu, the Vedic god of preservation, madhavan and Parpola note Chakra sign appears frequently in Indus Valley civilization inscriptions, on several seals. Notably, a sequence of four signs on the Dholavira signboard, common Dharmachakra symbols consist of either 8 or 24 spokes. Unicode Symbol, ☸ According to the Puranas of Hinduism, only 24 Rishis or Sages managed the power of the Gayatri Mantra. The 24 letters of the Gayatri Mantra depict those 24 Rishis and this is a quote from the Mundaka Upanishad, the concluding part of the sacred Hindu Vedas. The one who does not follow the wheel thus revolving, leads a sinful, vain life, the Dharmachakra is one of the ashtamangala of Buddhism. It is one of the oldest known Buddhist symbols found in Indian art, the Buddha is said to have set the dhammacakka in motion when he delivered his first sermon, which is described in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. The wheel itself depicts ideas about the cycle of saṃsāra and furthermore the Noble Eightfold Path, Buddhism adopted the wheel as the main symbol of the chakravartin wheel-turner, the ideal king or universal monarch, symbolising the ability to cut through all obstacles and illusions. According to Harrison, the symbolism of the wheel of the law, the image, having been found in antiquity is referred to as Rimbo is an accepted symbol used in Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, along with the Swastika. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, first Vice President of India has stated that the Ashoka Chakra of India represents the Dharmachakra, in Jainism, the Dharmachakra is worshipped as a symbol of the dharma. Other cakras appear in other Indian traditions, e. g. Vishnus Sudarśanacakra, the former Flag of Sikkim featured a version of the dharmachakra. Thai people also use a flag with a red dhammacakka as their Buddhist flag. The emblem of Mongolia includes a dharmachakra together with some other Buddhist attributes such as the padma, cintamani, a blue khata, the dharmachakra is also the insignia for Buddhist chaplains in the United States Armed Forces. In non-Buddhist cultural contexts, an eight-spoked dharmachakra resembles a traditional ships wheel, as a nautical emblem, this image is a common sailor tattoo. In the Unicode computer standard, the dharmachakra is called the Wheel of Dharma, Buddhism for the West, Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna, a comprehensive review of Buddhist history, philosophy, and teachings from the time of the Buddha to the present day
11.
History of Buddhism
–
This makes it one of the oldest religions practiced today. The religion evolved as it spread from the region of the Indian subcontinent through Central, East. At one time or another, it influenced most of the Asian continent, siddhārtha Gautama was the historical founder of Buddhism. He was born a Kshatriya warrior prince in Lumbini, Shakya Republic, the dates of his birth and death are still a point of controversy but most scholars suggested that the Buddha died within approximately a few decades on either side of 400 B. C. His particular family of Sakya Kshatriyas may have made claims of belonging to a Brahmin lineage, as indicated by the family name Gautama, 19th-century scholars, such as Eitel, connected it to the Brahmin Rishi Gautama. While some Buddhist texts, use the epthet, Angirasa, which refers to the Brahmin Sage Angirasa, siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment sitting under a peepal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India. Gautama, from then on, was known as The Enlightened One, Buddha found patronage in the ruler of Magadha, emperor Bimbisāra. The emperor accepted Buddhism as his faith and allowed the establishment of many Buddhist vihāras. This eventually led to the renaming of the region as Bihār. At the Deer Park near Vārāṇasī in northern India, Buddha set in motion Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to a group of five companions with whom he had previously sought enlightenment. Together with the Buddha they formed the first Saṅgha According to the scriptures, later, after an initial reluctance, fully ordained Buddhist nuns are called bhikkhunis. Mahapajapati Gotami, the aunt and foster mother of Buddha, was the first bhikkhuni, for the remaining years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain of Northeastern India and other regions. Buddha attained parinirvāṇa in the jungles of Kuśināra. Just before Buddha died, he told his followers that thereafter the Dharma would be their leader. The early arhants considered Gautamas words the source of Dharma and Vinaya. Nonetheless, no ungarnished collection of his sayings has survived, the versions of the canon preserved in Pāli, Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan are sectarian variants of a corpus that grew and crystallized during three centuries of oral transmission. Early Buddhism remained centered on the Ganges valley, spreading gradually from its ancient heartland, the canonical sources record two councils, where the monastic Sangha established the textual collections based on the Buddhas teachings and settled certain disciplinary problems within the community. The objective of the council was to all of Buddhas teachings into the doctrinal teachings and Abhidhamma
12.
Gautama Buddha
–
Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni Buddha, or simply the Buddha, after the title of Buddha, was an ascetic and sage, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the part of ancient India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE. Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement common in his region and he later taught throughout other regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala. Gautama is the figure in Buddhism. He is recognized by Buddhists as a teacher who attained full Buddhahood. Accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death, various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later. Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the facts of the Buddhas life. Apart from the Vedic Brahmins, the Buddhas lifetime coincided with the flourishing of influential schools of thought like Ājīvika, Cārvāka, Jainism. Brahmajala Sutta records sixty-two such schools of thought, thus, Buddha was just one of the many śramaṇa philosophers of that time. The times of Gautamas birth and death are uncertain, most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE. These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet accepted by all historians. It was either a republic, or an oligarchy, and his father was an elected chieftain. He obtained his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in Sarnath, no written records about Gautama were found from his lifetime or some centuries thereafter. One Edict of Asoka, who reigned from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE, another one of his edicts mentions the titles of several Dhamma texts, establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era. These texts may be the precursor of the Pāli Canon and they are written in the Gāndhārī language using the Kharosthi script on twenty-seven birch bark manuscripts and date from the first century BCE to the third century CE. The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different and these include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā. Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, a poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa in the first century CE. The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE, the Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE
13.
Dharma
–
Dharma is a key concept with multiple meanings in the Indian religions — Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. There is no single word translation for dharma in western languages, in Buddhism dharma means cosmic law and order, but is also applied to the teachings of the Buddha. In Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for phenomena, Dharma in Jainism refers to the teachings of tirthankara and the body of doctrine pertaining to the purification and moral transformation of human beings. For Sikhs, the word means the path of righteousness. The Classical Sanskrit noun dharma is a derivation from the root dhṛ, the word dharma was already in use in the historical Vedic religion, and its meaning and conceptual scope has evolved over several millennia. The antonym of dharma is adharma, the Classical Sanskrit noun dharma is a derivation from the root dhṛ, which means to hold, maintain, keep, and takes a meaning of what is established or firm, and hence law. It is derived from an older Vedic Sanskrit n-stem dharman-, with a meaning of bearer, supporter. In the Rigveda, the word appears as an n-stem, dhárman-, figuratively, it means sustainer and supporter. It is semantically similar to the Greek Ethos, in Classical Sanskrit, the noun becomes thematic, dharma-. The word dharma derives from Proto-Indo-European root *dʰer-, which in Sanskrit is reflected as class-1 root √dhṛ, etymologically it is related to Avestan √dar-, Latin firmus, Lithuanian derė́ti, Lithuanian dermė and darna and Old Church Slavonic drъžati. Classical Sanskrit word dharmas would formally match with Latin o-stem firmus from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer-mo-s holding, were it not for its development from earlier Rigvedic n-stem. In Classical Sanskrit, and in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Atharvaveda, in Pāli, it is rendered dhamma. In some contemporary Indian languages and dialects it occurs as dharm. Dharma is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion and it has multiple meanings in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is difficult to provide a concise definition for dharma, as the word has a long and varied history and straddles a complex set of meanings. There is no equivalent single word translation for dharma in western languages, there have been numerous, conflicting attempts to translate ancient Sanskrit literature with the word dharma into German, English and French. The concept, claims Paul Horsch, has caused difficulties for modern commentators and translators. Dharma root is dhri, which means ‘to support, hold and it is the thing that regulates the course of change by not participating in change, but that principle which remains constant
14.
Four Noble Truths
–
The Four Noble Truths are the truths of the Noble Ones, the truths or realities which are understood by the worthy ones who have attained Nirvana. The truths are dukkha, the arising of dukkha, the cessation of dukkha, the four truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in samsara, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha. But there is a way to real happiness and to end this cycle. The meaning of the truths is as follows, Dukkha, incapable of satisfying, Life in this mundane world, with its craving and clinging to impermanent states and things, is dukkha, unsatisfactory and painful, Samudaya, the origination or arising of dukkha. Dukkha, and repeated life in this world, arises with taṇhā, thirst, craving for and clinging to impermanent states. This craving and clinging produces karma which leads to renewed becoming, keeping us trapped in rebirth and renewed dissatisfaction, Nirodha, the four truths provide a conceptual framework for introducing and explaining Buddhist thought, which has to be personally understood or experienced. The formulation of the four truths, and their importance, developed over time, in the sutras, the four truths have both a symbolic and a propositional function. They represent the awakening and liberation of the Buddha, but also the possibility of liberation for all sentient beings, the four truths are of central importance in the Theravada tradition, which holds to the idea that insight into the four truths is liberating in itself. They are less prominent in the Mahayana traditions, which emphasize insight into sunyata, the four truths are best known from their presentation in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, which contains two sets of the four truths, while various other sets can be found in the Pali Canon. According to the Buddhist tradition, the Buddha first taught the four noble truths in the very first teaching he gave after attaining enlightenment, as recorded in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. According to Norman, the Pali canon contains various shortened forms of the four truths, the mnemonic set, the earliest form of the mnemonic set was dukkham samudayo nirodho magga, without the reference to sacca or arya, which were later added to the formula. This full set contains grammatical errors, but were considered correct by the Pali tradition, as opposite to sukha, pleasure, it is better translated as pain. S. Cousins notes that the four truths are not restricted to the form where dukkha is the subject. Other forms take the world, the arising of the world or the āsavas, according to Cousins, the well-known form is simply shorthand for all of the forms. The world refers to the saṅkhāras, that is, all compounded things, the Pali terms ariya sacca are commonly translated as noble truths. This translation is a convention started by the earliest translators of Buddhist texts into English, Norman, this is just one of several possible translations. According to Paul Williams, here is no reason why the Pali expression ariyasaccani should be translated as noble truths
15.
Impermanence
–
Impermanence, also called Anicca or Anitya, is one of the essential doctrines and a part of three marks of existence in Buddhism. The doctrine asserts that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is transient, evanescent, inconstant, all temporal things, whether material or mental, are compounded objects in a continuous change of condition, subject to decline and destruction. The concept of impermanence is also found in schools of Hinduism and Jainism. Anicca or impermanence is understood in Buddhism as the first of three marks of existence, the two being dukkha and anatta. All physical and mental events, states Buddhism, come into being, human life embodies this flux in the aging process, the cycle of repeated birth and death, nothing lasts, and everything decays. This is applicable to all beings and their environs, including beings who have reincarnated in deva and this is in contrast to nirvana, the reality that is Nicca, or knows no change, decay or death. Impermanence is intimately associated with the doctrine of anatta, according to which things have no essence, permanent self, the Buddha taught that because no physical or mental object is permanent, desires for or attachments to either causes suffering. Understanding Anicca and Anatta are steps in the Buddhist’s spiritual progress toward enlightenment, the Pali word anicca is a compound word consisting of a meaning non-, and nicca meaning constant, continuous, permanent. While the word Nicca refers to the concept of continuity and permanence, Anicca refers to its exact opposite, the term appears in the Rigveda, and is synonymous with Anitya. The term appears extensively in the Pali canon, Impermanence is one of trilakshana of existence. Everything, whether physical or mental, is a formation, has a dependent origination and is impermanent and this impermanence is a source of Dukkha. This is in contrast to nirvana, the reality that is Nicca, or knows no change, decay or death. The term Anitya, in the sense of impermanence of objects and life, appears in verse 1.2.10 of the Katha Upanishad, one of the Principal Upanishads of Hinduism. It asserts that everything in the world is impermanent, but impermanent nature of things is an opportunity to obtain what is permanent as the Hindu scripture presents its doctrine about Atman, the term Anitya also appears in the Bhagavad Gita in a similar context. Even in the details of their respective impermanence theories, state Frank Hoffman and Deegalle Mahinda, Buddhist, the Nicca in Buddhism is anatta, the Nitya in Hinduism is atman. The five aggregates, monks, are anicca, impermanent, and what is the all that is impermanent. The eye is impermanent, visual objects, whatever is felt as pleasant or unpleasant or neither-unpleasant-nor-pleasant, born of eye-contact is impermanent. All formations are impermanent Akio Jissojis Buddhist auteur film Mujo owes its title to the doctrine of Impermanence
16.
Karma in Buddhism
–
Karma is a Sanskrit term that literally means action or doing. In the Buddhist tradition, karma refers to action driven by intention which leads to future consequences and those intentions are considered to be the determining factor in the kind of rebirth in samsara, the cycle of rebirth. Karma is a Sanskrit term that literally means action or doing, the word karma derives from the verbal root kṛ, which means do, make, perform, accomplish. Karmaphala is the fruit, effect or result of karma, a similar term is karmavipaka, the maturation or cooking of karma, The remote effects of karmic choices are referred to as the maturation or fruit of the karmic act. The metaphor is derived from agriculture, One sows a seed, there is a time lag during which some mysterious invisible process takes place, Karma and karmaphala are fundamental concepts in Buddhism. Rebirth, is a belief in all Buddhist traditions. It says that birth and death in the six realms occur in successive cycles driven by ignorance, desire, the cycle of rebirth is called samsarā. It is a beginningless and ever-ongoing process, liberation from samsarā can be attained by following the Buddhist Path. This path leads to vidyā, and the stilling of trsnā, hereby the ongoing process of rebirth is stopped. The cycle of rebirth is determined by karma, literally action, in the Buddhist tradition, karma refers to actions driven by intention, a deed done deliberately through body, speech or mind, which leads to future consequences. The Nibbedhika Sutta, Anguttara Nikaya 6.63, Intention I tell you, is kamma, intending, one does kamma by way of body, speech, & intellect. According to Peter Harvey, It is the impulse behind an action that is karma. Actions, then, must be if they are to generate karmic fruits. According to Gombrich, this was an innovation, which overturns brahmanical. Its a rejection of caste-bound differences, giving the possibility to reach liberation to all people, not just Brahmanins, Not by birth is one a brahmin or an outcaste. How this emphasis on intention was to be interpreted became a matter of debate in, Karma leads to future consequences, karma-phala, fruit of action. Any given action may cause all sorts of results, but the results are only those results which are a consequence of both the moral quality of the action, and of the intention behind the action. According to Reichenbach, he envisioned by the law of karma encompass more than the observed natural or physical results which follow upon the performance of an action
17.
Buddhist texts
–
They can be categorized in a number of ways. These religious texts were written in different languages and scripts. Even after the development of printing, Buddhists preferred to keep to their practices with these texts. The Mahāsāṃghika and the Mūlasarvāstivāda considered both the Buddhas discourses, and of his disciples, to be buddhavacana, a number of different beings such as buddhas, disciples of the buddha, ṛṣis, and devas were considered capable to transmitting buddhavacana. The content of such a discourse was then to be collated with the sūtras, compared with the Vinaya and these texts may then be certified as true buddhavacana by a buddha, a saṃgha, a small group of elders, or one knowledgeable elder. In Theravada Buddhism, the collection of buddhavacana is the Pali Canon. Some scholars believe that some portions of the Pali Canon and Agamas could contain the substance of the historical teachings of the Buddha. In East Asian Buddhism, what is considered buddhavacana is collected in the Chinese Buddhist canon, the most common edition of this is the Taishō Tripiṭaka. Then these sutras may be regarded as buddhavacana. Sometimes texts that are considered commentaries by some are regarded by others as Buddhavacana, in Tibetan Buddhism, what is considered buddhavacana is collected in the Kangyur. The East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist canons always combined Buddhavacana with other literature in their standard collected editions, however, the general view of what is and is not buddhavacana is broadly similar between East Asian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. The Tibetan Kangyur, which belongs to the schools of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, in addition to containing sutras and vinaya. Doctrinal elaborations were preserved in Abhidharma works and later Karikas, as Buddhism spread geographically, these texts were translated into the local language, such as Chinese and Tibetan. The Pali canon was preserved in Sri Lanka where it was first written down in the first century BCE, the Sri Lankan Pali tradition developed extensive commentaries as well as sub-commentaries for the Pali Canon as well as treatises on Abhidhamma. Sutra commentaries and Abhidharma works also exist in Tibetan, Chinese, Korean, important examples of non-canonical Pali texts are the Visuddhimagga, by Buddhaghosa, which is a compendium of Theravada teachings and the Mahavamsa, a historical Sri Lankan chronicle. Sanskrit Buddhist literature later became the dominant tradition in India until the decline of Buddhism in India, around the beginning of the Christian era, a new genre of sutra literature began to be written with a focus on the Bodhisattva idea, commonly known as Mahayana sutras. Many of the Mahayana sutras were written in Sanskrit and then translated into the Tibetan, some 600 Mahayana Sutras have survived in Sanskrit, or in Chinese and/or Tibetan translation. In the Mahayana tradition there are important works termed Shastras, or treatises which attempt to outline the sutra teachings, the works of important Buddhist philosophers like Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu and Dharmakirti are generally termed Shastras, and were written in Sanskrit
18.
Mahayana sutras
–
The Mahayana sutras are a broad genre of Buddhist scriptures that various traditions of Mahayana Buddhism accept as canonical. They are largely preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon, the Tibetan Buddhist canon, around one hundred Mahayana sutras survive in Sanskrit, or in Chinese and Tibetan translations. The origins of the Mahayana are not completely understood, the earliest views of Mahayana Buddhism in the West assumed that it existed as a separate school in competition with the so-called Hīnayāna schools. These views have largely dismissed in modern times in light of a much broader range of early texts that are now available. The old views of Mahayana as a separate lay-inspired and devotional sect are now dismissed as misguided. The early versions of Mahayana sutras were not written documents but orally preserved teachings, the verses which were committed to memory and recited by monks were viewed as the substitute for the actual speaking presence of the Buddha. The earliest textual evidence of the Mahayana comes from sutras originating around the beginning of the common era. There is also no evidence that Mahayana ever referred to a formal school or sect of Buddhism, but rather that it existed as a certain set of ideals. This continues today with the Dharmaguptaka ordination lineage in East Asia, therefore, Mahayana was never a separate rival sect of the early schools. Those who venerate the bodhisattvas and read the Mahayana sutras are called the Mahayanists, much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahayana comes from early Chinese translations of Mahayana texts. These Mahayana teachings were first propagated into China by Lokakṣema, the first translator of Mahayana sutras into Chinese during the 2nd century CE, others such as A. K. Warder have argued that the Mahayana sutras are not historical. Western scholarship does not go so far as to impugn the religious authority of Mahayana sutras and it is widely accepted that Mahayana sutras constitute a body of literature that began to appear from as early as the 1st century BCE, although the evidence for this date is circumstantial. This picture may be qualified by the analysis of early manuscripts recently coming out of Afghanistan. In effect we have a vast body of anonymous but relatively coherent literature and this suggests that Mahayana was not simply an accretion of fabricated doctrines, as it is sometimes accused of being, but has a strong connection with the teachings of Buddha himself. However weak the claim to historicity that the Mahayana sutras hold, then these sutras may be properly regarded as the words of the Buddha. Some teachers take the view that all teachings that stem from the insights of Buddha constitute the Buddhas speech. There are scriptural supports for this even in the Pāli Canon. There the Buddha is asked how the disciples should verify, after his death and his statement is neither to be approved nor scorned
19.
Tibetan Buddhist canon
–
The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various sects of Tibetan Buddhism. In addition to texts from Early Buddhist and Mahayana sources. The Tibetan Canon underwent a final compilation in the 14th century by Buton Rinchen Drub, all texts presumably have a Sanskrit original, although in many cases the Tibetan text was translated from Chinese or other languages. Tengyur or Translated Treatises, is the section to which were assigned commentaries, treatises, the Tengyur contains 3626 texts in 224 Volumes. The Kangyur is divided into sections on Vinaya, Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, Avatamsaka, Ratnakuta and other sutras, when exactly the term Kangyur was first used is not known. Collections of canonical Buddhist texts already existed in the time of Trisong Detsen, the exact number of texts in the Kangyur is not fixed. Each editor takes responsibility for removing texts he considers spurious or adding new translations, currently there are about 12 available Kangyurs. These include the Derge, Lhasa, Narthang, Cone, Peking, Urga, Phudrak and Stog Palace versions, in addition, some canonical texts have been found in Tabo and Dunhuang which provide earlier exemplars to texts found in the Kangyur. The majority of extant Kangyur editions appear to stem from the so-called Old Narthang Kangyur, though the Phukdrak, the stemma of the Kangyur have been well researched in particular by Helmut Eimer and Paul Harrison. A team of Indian and Tibetan scholars was assigned for the purpose, as a major step in this remarkable attempt at literary standardization, the bi-lingual glossary known as the Mahavyutpatti was successfully accomplished in the Tibetan horse year. The earliest catalogue compilation was recorded from the manuscript of the collection housed in the palace- pho-brang ‘phang-thang ka-med kyi gtsug-lag-kang in the Tibetan dog year. This cataloguing work became famous by the name of the palace, dkar-chag ldan-dkar-ma was compiled in the dragon year. Among these three catalogues, ldan-dkar-ma, included in the volume Jo of sna-tsogs in sde-ge bka’-bstan, is believed to be the only surviving so far. But recently a manuscript of dkar-chag phang-thang-ma is discovered and published from Tibet and it contains 961 titles listed under 34 subject headings with additional information of numbers of verses that contains in each text. The ldan-dkar-ma catalogue comprises 735 titles and listed under a category of 27 subject headings. of words, verses, canto, thus today we have a record of 73 million words contained in the bka’-’gyur & bstan-’gyur collection. According to the latest edition of Dharma Publication, the bKa’-‘gyur contains 1,115 texts, likewise, the bsTan-gyur contains 3,387 texts using 127,000 folios amounting to 850,000 lines and 48 millions words. The sum total of both these collections is 4,502 texts in 73 millions words, by fixing bampo to verses and to words of each of the textual contents, the individual works are interpolation and alteration. This further strengthened the authenticity of Tibetan Buddhist literature, Tibet, thus, becomes the earliest to accomplish catalogue as inventory in the history of evolution of catalogue
20.
Chinese Buddhist canon
–
The Chinese Buddhist Canon refers to the total body of Buddhist literature deemed canonical in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese Buddhism. The traditional term for this canon is Dàzàngjīng, which means the Great Treasury of Sūtras, the Chinese Buddhist canon includes Āgama, Vinaya and Abhidharma texts from Early Buddhist schools, as well as the Mahāyāna sūtras and scriptures from Esoteric Buddhism. There are many versions of the canon in East Asia in different places, an early version is the Fangshan Stone Sutras from the 7th century. The earlier Lung Tripitaka, Jiaxing Tripitaka, and Zhaocheng Jin Tripitaka are still extant in printed form. The complete woodblocks are the Tripiṭaka Koreana and the Chenlong Tripitaka, the Tripiṭaka Koreana or Palman Daejanggyeong was carved between 1236 and 1251, during Koreas Goryeo Dynasty, onto 81,340 wooden printing blocks with no known errors in the 52,382,960 characters. It is stored at the Haeinsa temple, South Korea, one of the most used version is Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō. Named after the Taisho era, a modern standardized edition originally published in Tokyo between 1924 and 1934 in 100 volumes and it is also one of the most completely punctuated tripitaka. The Zokuzōkyō version, which is a supplement of another version of the canon, is used as a supplement for Buddhist texts not collected in the Taishō Tripiṭaka. The Jiaxing Tripitaka is a supplement for Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty Buddhist texts not collected, and a Dazangjing Bu Bian published in 1986 are supplements of them. There are newer Tripitaka Sinica projects, the Mi Tripitaka is the Tangut canon. Eric Grinstead published a collection of Tangut Buddhist texts under the title The Tangut Tripitaka in 1971 in New Delhi, the Taishō edition contains classical Japanese works. The Dunhuang edition contains some works in old Western Regions languages, the Tripitaka Sinica mentioned above features a Tibetan section. Modern religious and scholarly works are also excluded but they are published in book series. Pali Canon Tibetan Buddhist canon Sanskrit Buddhist literature
21.
Refuge (Buddhism)
–
Buddhists take refuge in the Three Jewels or Triple Gem. The Three Jewels are, the Buddha, the Dharma, the teachings, Refuge is common to all major schools of Buddhism. Pali texts employ the Brahmanical motif of the refuge, found in Rig Veda 9.97.47, Rig Veda 6.46.9. Faith is an important teaching element in both Theravada and Mahayana traditions, in contrast to perceived Western notions of faith, faith in Buddhism arises from accumulated experience and reasoning. In the Kalama Sutra, the Buddha explicitly argues against simply following authority or tradition, there remains value for a degree of trusting confidence and belief in Buddhism, primarily in the spiritual attainment and salvation or enlightenment. Faith in Buddhism centres on belief in the Three Jewels, for someone who wishes to study and practice Buddhism, the five ethical precepts encouraged are to voluntarily undertake the practice to, refrain from killing. Note, The precepts may be listed in order of the gravity of harmful actions guarded against, improper sexual conduct can roughly mean hurtful or harmful sexual conduct. Refrain from sleeping on high and luxurious beddings Sanskrit version, बुद्धं शरणं गच्छामि। धर्मं शरणं गच्छामि। संघं शरणं गच्छामि। Buddhaṃ śaraṇaṃ gacchāmi, I take refuge in the Buddha. I take refuge in the Dharma, I take refuge in the Sangha. Pāli version, बुद्धं सरणं गच्छामि। दम्मं सरणं गच्छामि। सङ्घं सरणं गच्छामि। Buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi, khmer characters, ទុតិយម្បិ ពុទ្ធំ សរណំ គច្ឆាមិ ។ ទុតិយម្បិ ធម្មំ សរណំ គច្ឆាមិ ។ ទុតិយម្បិ សង្ឃំ សរណំ គច្ឆាមិ ។ For the second time. Khmer characters, តតិយម្បិ ពុទ្ធំ សរណំ គច្ឆាមិ ។ តតិយម្បិ ធម្មំ សរណំ គច្ឆាមិ ។ តតិយម្បិ សង្ឃំ សរណំ គច្ឆាមិ ៕ For the third time, the Outer form is the Triple Gem, the Inner is the Three Roots and the Secret form is the Three Bodies or trikaya of a Buddha. These alternative refuge formulations are employed by those undertaking Deity Yoga, happiness is temporary, lifetimes are impermanent and ultimately refuge is taken until reaching unsurpassed awakening. Ceremony for Taking Refuge and Precepts by Ven, thubten Chodron A Buddhist View on Refuge Refuge, A Safe and Meaningful Direction in Life by Dr
22.
Buddhist Paths to liberation
–
The Buddhist tradition gives a wide variety of descriptions of the Buddhist Path to liberation. The classical description is the Noble Eightfold Path, described in the Sutta Pitaka and this description is preceded by even older descriptions in the Sutta Pitaka, and elaborated in the various Buddhist traditions. A number of paths have been developed and described within the various traditions. A standard sequence of developments can be found in the Nikayas, for example the Tevijja Sutra verse 40-75, Verse 40, A Tathàgata is born into the world, who makes his knowledge known to others. Verse 41, A householder listens to that truth, acquites faith, Verse 42, He passes a life self-restrained, good in his conduct, guarding the door of his senses, mindful and self-possessed. Verse 43-75, This results in, The confidence of heart that results from the sense of goodness, the way in which he guards the doors of his senses. The way in which he is mindful and self-possessed and his habit of being content with little, of adopting simplicity of life. His conquest of the five hindrances, each with the explanatory simile, the joy and peace which, as a result of this conquest, fills his whole being. The Noble Eightfold Path is widely known as the description of the Buddhist path, in the Sutta Pitaka it is summed up as follows, The Blessed One said, Now what, monks, is the Noble Eightfold Path. Right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. The Atthakavagga, one of the oldest books of the Sutta Pitaka, contained in the Sutta Nipata, does not give a goal such as Nirvana. This ideal person is especially characterized by suddhi and santi, commentaries on the Atthakavagga, namely the Mahaniddesa and the commentary by Buddhaghosa, show the development of Buddhist ideas over time. Both commentaries place the Atthakavagga in their frame of reference, giving a system of thought far more complicated than the Atthakavagga itself. The classical outline of the Theravada path to liberation are the Seven Purifications, the emphasis in this system is on understanding the three marks of existence, dukkha, anatta, anicca. This emphasis is recognizable in the value that is given to vipassana over samatha, Mahāyāna Buddhism is based principally upon the path of a bodhisattva. Mahāyāna Buddhism encourages everyone to become bodhisattvas and to take the bodhisattva vows, with these vows, one makes the promise to work for the complete enlightenment of all sentient beings by following the bodhisattva path. The path can be described in terms of the six perfections or in terms of the five paths, the six paramitas are the means by which Mahayana practitioners actualize their aspiration to attain complete enlightenment for the benefit of all. The Five Paths are, The path of accumulation, persons on this Path, Possess a strong desire to overcome suffering, either their own or others, Renunciate the worldly life
23.
Buddhist ethics
–
Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the enlightened perspective of the Buddha, or other enlightened beings such as Bodhisattvas. The Indian term for ethics or morality used in Buddhism is Śīla or sīla and it has been variously described as virtue, right conduct, morality, moral discipline and precept. Sīla is an internal, aware, and intentional ethical behavior and it is an ethical compass within self and relationships, rather than what is associated with the English word morality. Sīla is one of the three practices foundational to Buddhism and the non-sectarian Vipassana movement — sīla, samādhi, and paññā as well as the Theravadin foundations of sīla, Dāna and it is also the second pāramitā. Sīla is also wholehearted commitment to what is wholesome, two aspects of sīla are essential to the training, right performance, and right avoidance. Honoring the precepts of sīla is considered a gift to others, because it creates an atmosphere of trust, respect. It means the practitioner poses no threat to another life, property, family, rights. Moral instructions are included in Buddhist scriptures or handed down through tradition, the source for the ethics of Buddhists around the world are the Three Jewels of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. The Buddha is seen as the discoverer of liberating knowledge and hence the foremost teacher, the Dharma is both the teachings of the Buddhas path and the truths of these teachings. The Sangha is the community of noble ones, who practice the Dhamma and have attained some knowledge and can provide guidance. Having proper understanding of the teachings is vital for proper ethical conduct, the Buddha taught that right view was a necessary prerequisite for right conduct. A central foundation for Buddhist morality is the law of Karma, Karma is a word which literally means action and is seen as a natural law of the universe which manifests as cause and effect. In the Buddhist conception, Karma is a type of moral action which has moral consequences on the actor. The core of karma is the intention, and hence the Buddha stated ‘It is intention, O monks. Therefore, accidentally hurting someone is not bad Karma, but having hurtful thoughts is, ones past actions are said to mold ones consciousness and to leave seeds which later ripen in the next life. The goal of Buddhist practice is generally to break the cycle, the root of ones intention is what conditions an action to be good or bad. There are three roots and three negative roots. Actions which produce good outcomes are termed merit and obtaining merit is an important goal of lay Buddhist practice, the early Buddhist texts mention three bases for effecting karmic fruitfulness’, giving, moral virtue and meditation
24.
Buddhist meditation
–
Buddhist meditation refers to the meditative practices associated with the religion and philosophy of Buddhism. Core meditation techniques have been preserved in ancient Buddhist texts and have proliferated and diversified through teacher-student transmissions, Buddhists pursue meditation as part of the path toward Enlightenment and Nirvana. The closest words for meditation in the languages of Buddhism are bhāvanā. Buddhist meditation techniques have become popular in the wider world. Buddhist meditation encompasses a variety of techniques that aim to develop mindfulness, concentration, supramundane powers, tranquility. For those seeking school-specific meditation information, it may be appropriate to simply view the articles listed in the See also section below. While there are some similar meditative practices — such as meditation and various recollections — that are used across Buddhist schools. Most classical and contemporary Buddhist meditation guides are school specific, only a few teachers attempt to synthesize, crystallize and categorize practices from multiple Buddhist traditions. The earliest tradition of Buddhist practice is preserved in the nikāya/āgamas, Right Concentration – culminating in jhanic absorptions through the meditative development of samatha. And implicitly in regard to, Right View – embodying wisdom traditionally attained through the development of vipassana founded on samatha. Classic texts in the Pali literature enumerating meditative subjects include the Satipatthana Sutta, in the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha identifies four foundations for mindfulness, the body, feelings, mind states and mental objects. Meditation on these subjects develops insight, in the Four Ways to Arahantship Sutta, Ven. In the Pali canon, the Buddha never mentions independent samatha and vipassana meditation practices, instead, samatha, nonetheless, some meditation practices favor the development of samatha, others are conducive to the development of vipassana, while others are classically used for developing both mental qualities. Buddhaghosas forty meditation subjects are described in the Visuddhimagga, almost all of these are described in the early texts. Buddhaghosa subsequently elaborates on the forty meditation subjects as follows, ten kasinas, earth, water, fire, air, blue, yellow, red, white, light, and limited-space. Ten kinds of foulness, the bloated, the livid, the festering, the cut-up, the gnawed, the scattered, the hacked and scattered, the bleeding, the worm-infested, and a skeleton. Ten recollections, Buddhānussaṭi, the Dhamma, the Sangha, virtue, generosity, the virtues of deities, death, the body, the breath, Four divine abodes, metta, karuṇā, mudita, and upekkha. Four immaterial states, boundless space, boundless perception, nothingness, according to Pali commentaries, breath meditation can lead one to the equanimous fourth jhanic absorption
25.
Buddhist philosophy
–
Indian Buddhists sought this understanding not just from the revealed teachings of the Buddha, but through philosophical analysis and rational deliberation. Buddhist thinkers in India and subsequently in East Asia have covered topics as varied as phenomenology, ethics, ontology, epistemology, logic, a recurrent theme in Buddhist philosophy has been the reification of concepts, and the subsequent return to the Buddhist Middle Way. Particular points of Buddhist philosophy have often been the subject of disputes between different schools of Buddhism and these elaborations and disputes gave rise to various schools in early Buddhism of Abhidharma, and to the Mahayana traditions and schools of the prajnaparamita, Madhyamaka, Buddha-nature and Yogacara. Philosophy in India was aimed mainly at spiritual liberation and had soteriological goals, virtually all the great philosophical systems of India, Sāṅkhya, Advaitavedānta, Mādhyamaka and so forth, were preeminently concerned with providing a means to liberation or salvation. It was a tacit assumption with these systems that if their philosophy were correctly understood and assimilated, the goal of Buddhist philosophy is nirvana and to achieve this it needs to investigate the nature of the world. For the Indian Buddhist philosophers, the teachings of the Buddha were not meant to be taken on faith alone, the Buddha also expect his disciples to approach him as a teacher in a critical fashion and scrutinize his actions and words, as shown in the Vīmaṃsaka Sutta. The Buddha was a north Indian sramana from Magadha and he cultivated various yogic techniques and ascetic practices and taught throughout north India, where his teachings took hold. These teachings are preserved in the Pali Nikayas and in the Agamas as well as in other surviving fragmentary textual collections, dating these texts is difficult and there is disagreement on how much of this material goes back to a single religious founder. The Buddha defined his teaching as the middle way, in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, this is used to refer to the fact that his teachings steer a middle course between the extremes of asceticism and bodily denial and sensual hedonism or indulgence. Many sramanas of the Buddhas time placed much emphasis on a denial of the body, using such as fasting. The Buddha however, realized that the mind was embodied and causally dependent on the body, according to Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term the middle way. In time, this description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path. Vetter argues that the eightfold path constitutes a body of practices which prepare one, and lead up to, according to Vetter and Bronkhorst, dhyāna constituted the original liberating practice, while discriminating insight into transiency as a separate path to liberation was a later development. According to Bronkhorst, the four truths may not have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, Lambert Schmithausen concluded that the four truths were a later development in early Buddhism. Carol Anderson, following Lambert Schmithausen and K. R, norman, notes that the four truths are missing in critical passages in the canon, and states. According to some scholars, the outlook of earliest Buddhism was primarily negative. Only knowledge that is useful in achieving enlightenment is valued, the four noble truths or truths of the noble one are a central feature of the teachings and are put forth in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. The first truth of Dukkha, often translated as suffering, is the inherent unsatisfactoriness of life
26.
Buddhist monasticism
–
Buddhist monasticism is one of the earliest surviving forms of organized monasticism in the history of religion. It is also one of the most fundamental institutions of Buddhism, monks and nuns are considered to be responsible for the preservation and dissemination of the Buddhas teaching and the guidance of Buddhist lay people. The order of Buddhist monks and nuns was founded by Gautama Buddha during his lifetime between the fifth and fourth centuries BC, the Buddhist monastic lifestyle grew out of the lifestyle of earlier sects of wandering ascetics, some of whom the Buddha had studied under. Monks and nuns were expected to live with a minimum of possessions, lay followers also provided the daily food that monks required, and provided shelter for monks when they were needed. Some Buddhist schools assert that during the Buddhas time, many retreats and gardens were donated by citizens for monks. Generally more than one monk stayed in house with each monk in his own cell. ārāma, a permanent and more comfortable arrangement than the avasa. This property was donated and maintained by a wealthy citizen. It generally consisted of residences within orchards or parks, one of the more famous Arama is Anathapindikas, known as Anathapindikassa arame, built on Prince Jetas grove. It had buildings worth 1.8 million gold pieces built in a beautiful grove, after the parinirvana of the Buddha, the Buddhist monastic order developed into a primarily cenobitic movement. The practice of living communally during the rainy season, prescribed by the Buddha. The number of rules observed varies with the order, Theravada monks follow around 227 rules, there are a larger number of rules specified for bhikkhunis. The information presented here, unless noted, characterises only certain Buddhist monks who follow the most strict regulations of the Southern Schools tradition. The oldest existing set of texts concerning a Buddhist form of life are those of the Pāli Canon. Although no copy of these comes from the time of the Buddha, because of its relative age the Pāli Canon is used by some monastic communities to define their conduct. Also the Buddhas disciple Ananda strongly insisted on including female order, ordination in the bhikkhuni lineage continues to exist among East Asian communities, and attempts have been made at a revival in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. Such divisions are rarely made in the Northern schools, or in the West. Monks and nuns are expected to fulfill a variety of roles in the Buddhist community, first and foremost, they are expected to preserve the doctrine and discipline now known as Buddhism
27.
Nirvana (Buddhism)
–
Nirvana is the earliest and most common term used to describe the goal of the Buddhist path. The literal meaning is blowing out or quenching and it is the ultimate spiritual goal in Buddhism and marks the soteriological release from rebirths in saṃsāra. Nirvana is part of the Third Truth on cessation of dukkha in the Four Noble Truths, within the Buddhist tradition, this term has commonly been interpreted as the extinction of the three fires, or three poisons, passion, aversion and ignorance. When these fires are extinguished, release from the cycle of rebirth is attained, Nirvana has also been deemed in Buddhism to be identical with anatta and sunyata states. Buddhist scholastic tradition identifies two types of nirvana, sopadhishesa-nirvana, and parinirvana or anupadhishesa-nirvana, the founder of Buddhism, the Buddha, is believed to have reached both these states. Nirvana, or the liberation from cycles of rebirth, is the highest aim of the Theravada tradition, the term nirvana describes a state of freedom from suffering and rebirth, but different Buddhist traditions have interpreted the concept in different ways. The origin is probably pre-Buddhist, and its etymology may not be conclusive for its meaning, Nirvana has a wide range of meanings, although the literal meaning is blowing out or quenching. It refers both to the act and the effect of blowing to put it out, but also the process and outcome of burning out, becoming extinguished. The term nirvana in the sense of blown out, extinguished state of liberation does not appear in the Vedas nor in the pre-Buddhist Upanishads. According to Collins, the Buddhists seem to have been the first to call it nirvana. However, the ideas of spiritual liberation using different terminology, is found in ancient texts of non-Buddhist Indian traditions, the prevalent interpretation of nirvana as extinction is based on the etymology of nir√vā to blow out. Nir is a negative, while va is commonly taken to refer to to blow, The term nirvana is part of a metaphorical structure. According to Gombrich, the number of three fires alludes to the three fires which a Brahmin had to alight, and thereby symbolise life in the world. The meaning of this metaphor was lost in later Buddhism, not only passion, hatred and delusion were to extinguished, but also all cankers or defilements. The blowing out does not mean total annihilation, but the extinguishing of a flame, which returns, the term nirvana can also be used as a verb, he or she nirvāṇa-s, or he or she parinirvānṇa-s. The term nirvana, to out, has also been interpreted as the extinction of the three fires, or three poisons, namely of passion or sensuality, aversion or hate and of delusion or ignorance. Another explanation of nirvana is the absence of the weaving of activity of the mind, Matsumoto Shirō, for example, states that the original etymological root of nirvana should not be considered as nir√vā which means extinction, but should be considered to be nir√vŗ, to uncover. The problem with considering it as extinction or liberation, is that it presupposes a self to be extinguished or liberated, according to Matsumoto, the original meaning of nirvana was therefore not “to extinguish” but to uncover the atman from that which is anatman
