Theravada Buddhism - Sacred Scripture & Eightfold Path PDF

## Sacred Scripture Theravada Buddhism - **Tripitaka (Tipitaka in Pali)** is the earliest collection of Buddhist teachings and the only text recognized as canonical by Theravada Buddhist. - Tripitaka means "three basket" from the way in which it was originally recorded. ### Three Baskets (Tipita...

## Sacred Scripture Theravada Buddhism - **Tripitaka (Tipitaka in Pali)** is the earliest collection of Buddhist teachings and the only text recognized as canonical by Theravada Buddhist. - Tripitaka means "three basket" from the way in which it was originally recorded. ### Three Baskets (Tipitaka/Tripitaka) | Basket | Contents | | ----- | -------- | | Sutta Pitaka (DISCOURSE) | Buddha's doctrinal discourses; short poems to long prose narratives about Siddhartha's previous lives | | Vinaya Pitaka (DISCIPLINE) | Rules of discipline; stories that illustrate Buddhist moral principles | | Abhidhamma Pitaka (ULTIMATE DOCTRINE) | Systematic analysis of the categories of Buddhist thought | ## The Four Noble Truths - **The Noble Truth for Dukkha**: Dukkha = suffering, unsatisfactory, stress. Life is fundamentally fraught with unsatisfactoriness and disappointment of every description. - **The Noble Truth of the Cause of Dukkha**: The cause of this dissatisfaction is Tanha (craving) in all forms. - **The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Dukkha**: An end to all that unsatisfactoriness can be found through relinquishment and abandonment of craving. - **The Noble Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Dukkha**: There is a method of achieving the end of all unsatisfactoriness, namely the Noble Eightfold Path. ## The Eightfold Path - The Eightfold Path is describe as walking in the Middle Way between complete pleasure and complete mortification. Walking in the Middle Way: - Pleasure - Middle Path - Mortification ### Eightfold Path | Path | What One Must Do | | ----- | -------- | | Right View | Understand the "Four Noble Truths" | | Right Intention | Free one's self from ill-will, cruelty and untruthfulness | | Right Speech | Abstain from untruthfulness, tale-bearing, harsh language and vain talk | | Right Action | Abstain from killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct | | Right Livelihood | Earn a living in a way not harmful to any living thing | | Right Effort | Avoid evil thoughts and overcome them, arouse good thoughts and maintain them | | Right Mindfulness | Pay vigilant attention to every state of the body, feeling and mind | | Right Concentration | Concentrate on a single object so as to induce certain special states of consciousness in deep meditation | ## Theravada Buddhism - Theravada Buddhism emphasizes attaining self-liberation through one's own efforts. Meditation and concentration are vital elements of the way to enlightenment. The ideal road is to dedicate oneself to full-time monastic life. The follower is expected to "abstain from all kinds of evil, to accumulate all that is good and to purify their mind". - Meditation is one of the main tools by which a Theravada Buddhist transforms themselves. ### Two Forms of Meditation - **Samatha (Calming meditation)**: This is the earliest form of meditation, and is not unique to Buddhism. It's used to make the mind calmer and take the person to higher jhanic states. The effects of Samatha meditation are temporary. - **Vipassana (Insight meditation)**: This form of meditation is used to achieve insight into the true nature of things. This is very difficult to get because human beings are used to seeing things distorted by their preconceptions, opinions, and past experiences. The aim is a complete change of the way we perceive and understand the universe, and unlike the temporary changes brought about by Samatha, the aim of Vipassana is permanent change. ## Liberation - When a person achieves liberation they are called a 'worthy person' - an Arhat or Arahat. - Despite the monastic emphasis, Theravada Buddhism has a substantial role and place for lay followers. - The code of behavior for lay people is much less strict than that for monks. - They follow the five basic Buddhist principles/precepts. ### Five Precepts - Refrain from harming living beings. - Refrain from taking that which is not freely given. - Refrain from sexual misconduct. - Refrain from wrong speech; such as lying, idle chatter, malicious gossip or harsh speech. - Refrain from intoxicating drink and drugs which lead to carelessness ## Law of Dependent Origination (Paticcasumappāda) - Buddhism, dependent origination is a twelve-linked chain that explicates how all things are inter-connected, how error and attachment to error occur, and how, if the chain is untangled. It also explains the problem of suffering and rebirth. As a result of this law of action, a being will be born in different states based on one's accumulated good and bad actions in the past. - Inter-connected. - How error and attachment occur - The Cycle of Suffering and Rebirth - Effect of the Law of Action - "Every effect has a definite cause and every cause has a definite effect" ### The Chain - Aging & Death (jaramarana) - Ignorance (avijja) - Formations (sañkhārā) - Consciousness (viññāṇa) - Name & Form (nāmarūpa) - Six Sense spheres (salāyatana) - Contact (phassa) - Feeling (vedanā) - Craving (taṇhā) - Clinging (upādāna) - Becoming (bhava) - Birth (jāti) ## Impermanence of Things - Buddhism affirms five processes deemed uncontrollable by any individual: old age, sickness, dying, decay and death. The one who achieved nirvana called arhat or one who is "worthy of honor".