Religion, Religious Experience, & Spirituality

Lyceum University of the Philippines – Davao

Buddhism

Module Overview

This module will tackle another world religion that finds its origins in India: Buddhism.
Like Hinduism, this religion is also highly diverse, with about 400 million followers. According to
records, Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, or more popularly known as the
Buddha, in the 6th century. Buddhism has successfully spread throughout South Asia to
Southeast and East Asia. Although Buddhism has been known globally, most of its teachings
still remain unknown to many. Therefore, the goal of this module is to provide you with
Buddhism’s central concepts and beliefs.

Intended Learning Outcomes:

In this lesson, you are expected to gain the different learning outcomes listed below:

o Learn to explain the basic history, beliefs, and practices of at least two religious
traditions.
o Describe how religious symbols and narratives are used, interpreted, and changed by
individuals and communities over time and across different cultures.
o Demonstrate constructive dialogue about the role religions play in public life and in
relation to social inequalities and social change.
o Analyze the morals and ethics of different religious traditions.

Time Frame: 4 Hours

Springboard
Let’s Get Started

What is the purpose of learning Buddhism?

College of Arts and Sciences

____________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________.

Analysis
Let’s Think About It!

What type of religion is Buddhism?

____________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________.
Religion, Religious Experience, & Spirituality
Lyceum University of the Philippines – Davao

Abstraction
Let’s Explore!

Introduction

“Balance is weakness”
-Zed, League of Legends

Maybe some of you, especially those who are playing League of Legends, have
encountered this quotation. This is a phrase that Zed, a fictional character of the game,
often declares. Based on its context, this phrase means that you should not strive to find
balance and instead try focusing and perfecting at least one thing. Why am I citing this
weird quotation from a game? It is because Buddhism, the religion that we are about
to explore, is in opposition to this quotation. In fact, balance and moderation might be
the right words to describe the religion of Buddhism because it tries to answer the
problem of “too much and too little”.
But before we get into the real deal, let us first clarify and deconstruct some
misconceptions about Buddhism. This religion is almost always associated with a lot of
negative things. When we hear the word, Buddha, there is a high probability that the
fat Buddha is what comes to our mind. This kind of Buddha is associated with business
and good luck. Another wrong notion is that Buddhism originated in China, and that
Buddha was Chinese, which later on would lead to the association of Buddhism with
kung fu. Also, some people think that Buddhism is just a simple act of meditation to
achieve calmness of the mind. However, none of these properly explain Buddhism.
Perhaps, these ideas were only products of enculturation, or maybe an effect of
watching too much Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies.
Buddhism, like Hinduism, has its origin in India. In this module, you will find out that
there is a considerable amount of resemblance between Hindu and Buddhist
concepts. We can probably say that Hinduism has a significant influence on Buddhism.
However, despite the influence, Buddhism still remains as a unique religion because of
how it addressed the existential problems of humanity. Remember that in the first
chapter we talked about how religions address these existential questions and
problems. In addition, Buddhism also focuses on self-discovery, but without a concept
of the divine. In short, it is anthropocentric, but not theocentric. What it lacks on
theology, however, it makes up for in its analysis on how one could end the cycle of
rebirth.
Buddhism did not rely much on Hindu religious practices, like rituals and sacred
texts. It advocated a change of lifestyle in order to solve the problem of rebirth. In other
words, it provides a new and different solution to the endless cycle of the rebirth of the
soul.

Origin and History

College of Arts and Sciences

To put things in the right context, let us first situate ourselves in the time when
Buddhism began. According to scholars, Buddhism began in India in the 6th century
BCE. During that time, India was experiencing radical social and political change. The
formation of kingdoms, expansion of cities, flourishing of trade routes, and the attempt
to pull people away from the simplicity of village life, were the focus of local rulers. In
addition, Hinduism was the prevalent religion during that time. These were the
conditions where Buddhism introduced itself in India.

Siddhartha Gautama

The origin story of Buddhism cannot be separated from the life story of
Siddhartha Gautama, or more popularly known as the Buddha, the founder of
Buddhism. As a matter of fact, most Buddhist teachings are derived from the personal
reflections and realizations of Siddhartha on his own life experiences. Now, who is this
Siddhartha Gautama?
Religion, Religious Experience, & Spirituality
Lyceum University of the Philippines – Davao
During his time, Siddhartha Gautama was not just a common person. He was a
prince belonging to the warrior caste in a place that we now know as Nepal. His birth
came around the year 563 BCE. There is not enough information on how Siddhartha
Gautama lived his life. But what is famously known about Siddhartha is the prophecy
that he was subjected to. According to this prophecy, Siddhartha was destined to be
either of two things: a great political leader or a homeless monk. His father, who
belongs to the warrior caste, preferred that Siddhartha should become a great political
leader to preserve the family’s status. As a result of this, Siddhartha’s father did
everything he could to prevent the latter part of the prophecy from happening. His
father provided him with much luxury, and secluded him from all the harsh realities of
life. All of the poor and the suffering were all put away from the sight of Gautama. He
even got married to a beautiful princess and had a son.
All the efforts of his father were wasted when, one day, Siddhartha, for the first
time, saw the harsh realities of life while he was walking around the place which his
father prevented him from seeing. While walking, he saw a man afflicted with illness, an
aging man, a dead man, and a monk walking alone in a yellow robe. These truths
about the human condition severely bothered Siddhartha. For the first time, he came to
realize that life is not just about happiness, and that human suffering was more common
than happiness. Perhaps, all of us have experienced this realization. When we were
young, we were made to believe that life is always good and because of our
innocence as a child, we fail to recognize the negative things in life. We can also thank
our parents for doing their best to protect us from all unpleasant things. However, as we
grow old and start to explore the world, it is unavoidable to see that life is not perfect at
all and that life is very frightening. Imagine that all throughout our lives we struggle to be
better, but at the end of it all, we are all just going to age and die anyway. This is a very
disturbing reality that we are not used to. What is the point of living? Not even wealth
can stop us from getting sick, old, and dying. Perhaps, this is also what Siddhartha felt
when he was exposed to the inevitable realities of existence.
As a result of this, Siddhartha secretly left everything he had to search for the
answer to his existential problems. Siddhartha chose to become a monk and opened
his mind about the Hindu Brahmins. For six years, he followed the teachings of the
Upanishads about meditations. Further, he also practiced extreme asceticism for five
years, wherein it came to the point that he only ate a single grain of rice, which made
him faint. After his revival, he realized that severely depriving himself of worldly pleasures
would not lead him to the answers that he longs to see.
The story of how Siddhartha was able to find the answer is quite lengthy. So to
make the long story short, Siddhartha found the answers in a place named Bodh Gaya,
which is located in the northeast of India, while meditating under a Bodhi tree. But
before that, he was first tempted while he was meditating. Mara, the god of desire and
death, encouraged him to just go home and continue living his luxurious life. However,
Siddhartha was firm with his decision to search for the answer. Through that meditation,
he was able to realize what he truly desired, and through that, he felt a sense of
awakening. This experience gave him the answer that he was looking for, an answer to
the problems of suffering, aging, and death. He was now the Buddha, the enlightened
College of Arts and Sciences

one, and his state was marked by a lack of craving – nirvana.

After this awakening, Buddha was again faced with another problem. Was he
supposed to tell others that he had discovered the dharma, the answer to the problem
of rebirth? The answer to this is obvious. Buddha chose to share what he discovered
and this is the reason for the existence of Buddhism.
Buddha preached the Middle Way for 45 years. He died at the age of eighty
near Varanasi in northern India. The Buddhist tradition believes that Buddha overcame
the cycle of rebirth, or samsara, and entered the state of parinirvana, which is like the
concept of moksha of the Hindus. “Work out your own liberation with diligence,” were
his last words to his followers. These words may mean that liberation is a personal
journey that they must patiently strive to achieve.

Spread of Buddhism

If the Christians have Constantine the Great, the Buddhists have King Ashoka.
You might not have an idea of who these people are but you best believe that they
Religion, Religious Experience, & Spirituality
Lyceum University of the Philippines – Davao
are very important in the flourishing of their respective religions. King Ashoka of the
Mauryan Empire caused the major turning point of Buddhist history. This king ruled
northern India for 35 years. Using the authority that he had, he commanded all his
people to follow the teachings of Buddha. King Ashoka was determined to really
spread Buddhism. In fact, he even sent missionaries abroad. The successful expansion of
Buddhism began when ambassadors reached Sri Lanka, where Buddha’s teachings
were greatly accepted. Later on, countries like Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos,
Malaysia, and Vietnam were also reached by Buddhist missionaries.
It took hundreds of years before Buddhism really experienced success with its
attempt to expand. Today, Sri Lanka remains one of the centers of preservation of early
Buddhist history. Most countries that have been largely under the spell of Buddhism
have chosen to be under its more conservative branch, Theravada Buddhism.

Traditions

Theravada Buddhism, which literally translates to “the way of the elders”, is the
kind of Buddhism that spread throughout Sri Lanka and other neighboring countries
through the efforts of King Ashoka. We can probably say that Theravada Buddhism is
the purest form of Buddhism because it stayed faithful to the teachings of Buddha; thus,
making it the conservative school of Buddhist thought. Further, this form of Buddhism
developed from the series of debates and splits concerning the authenticity of the
teachings of Buddha. What became their basis for reconstructing Buddha’s life and
teachings were the earliest records of the Buddhist tradition.
New Buddhist movements developed after the death of King Ashoka.
Mahayana Buddhism, which literally means “large vehicle”, was given birth after smaller
schools of Buddhism chose to unite. We can better understand the name Mahayana
by looking at the Indian worldview. This worldview uses the river as a metaphor for the
cycle of rebirth and the riverbank on the other side as the liberation of the soul. Imagine
that you need to cross or travel through a river. If you are going to go through the river
by just swimming, there is a high possibility that you will get tired and just drown along
the way. That is why a water vehicle, like a raft, is necessary in order to make the
journey easier. This is also the correlation between religion and the cycle of rebirth.
Indian thought sees that the function of religion should be like a vehicle that carries the
human person towards the riverbank of the liberation of the soul. As a result, the name
Mahayana was used in order to portray that this form of Buddhism is like a large vehicle
or a raft which they can use in order to reach the riverbank of liberation. In addition,
Mahayana Buddhism considers Theravada as Hinayana, which means a small vehicle
or a raft.
There is a third branch of Buddhism. However, it is just considered as a sub-
branch of Mahayana Buddhism. The name Vajrayana, which literally means
“thunderbolt or diamond vehicle”, was used to refer to this form of Buddhism. It is today
known as Tibetan Buddhism or Zen Buddhism. This kind of Buddhism is regarded as an
esoteric school because only a few people with specialized knowledge of this
Buddhism would be able to understand it.
College of Arts and Sciences

Non-God

What is apparent in Buddhism is that it does not recognize the centrality of the
role of a personal god or gods. This is, therefore, the reason why it is usually considered
as an atheistic religion. But Theravada Buddhism does not really say that a god does
not exist. Their position on the existence of agod can be best described by agnosticism
because they claim to have no knowledge of the existence of such. In addition, the
existence of a god would not matter for them because they believe that whether or
not a god exists, it would not affect the mechanics of the cycle of rebirth. Liberation will
always be on the hand of the person and it will stay as a personal journey. Therefore,
Theravada Buddhism believes that whether or not a god exists is not the question that
one should exhaust their energy into. The focus should remain on the more important
matter: overcoming suffering.
Religion, Religious Experience, & Spirituality
Lyceum University of the Philippines – Davao
Religious Experience

After Buddha reached Nirvana, or enlightenment, he chose to communicate the

dharma, or the cosmic order, to his followers so that they too can follow the path that
has led him to his awakening. He made his first public preaching in a place known as
the Deer Park in Sarnath, Varanasi. Buddha continued to preach the Middle Way, the
path that lies between denial and indulgence. This Middle Way is what led the Buddha
to the state of enlightenment and attainment of truth. What he discoursed with his
followers has come to be known as the Four Noble Truths which form the very core of
the teachings of Buddhism.

First Noble Truth: Dukkha

The first noble truth that the Buddha identified is that life is suffering. To exist is to
suffer. To die is to suffer. To be ill is to suffer. To be separated is to suffer. To need is to
suffer. In fact, according to Theravada Buddhism, even in the things where we find joy
and pleasure, there is suffering. A relationship is one good example because all
relationships will eventually come to an end. Friends leave or they get left behind. No
matter how nourishing the relationship has been, the experience of separation is always
painful. From the perspective of Theravada Buddhism, all aspects of life and human
experience have the possibilities of suffering. It is also for this same reason that Buddhists,
just like the Hindus, want to end the cycle of rebirth, because to live another life is to
suffer once again. This is the most fundamental problem of human existence which
Buddha called dukkha, or suffering.
According to Buddha, we can only begin our spiritual journey when we start to
accept that suffering is part of the human condition. In short, whether we like it or not,
we really have no choice but to welcome suffering in our lives because it will always be
there. No amount of wealth, fame, power, and luxury can ever protect us from
suffering. The good things we have serve only as shields that prevent us to see the
hardships in life. As long as one is blinded by riches, starting a new and personal journey
is not possible. As long as one leads a life of material lavishness, one is suffering.
Maybe you find this teaching of Buddha so cynical and pessimistic. But let us not
confuse realism with pessimism. Buddha just wants to show his followers what life really is
in its bareness, without the illusions that people use to console themselves with. Perhaps
what Buddhism is trying to say here is that it is okay to enjoy life, but one must never
ignore the essential truths of existence. When we cling too much on the good things,
we lose sight of what is real because we are too distracted. Escaping a problem would
not solve it. Problems need to be solved, not dissolved. If we do not know the problem,
we cannot also get out of it. Only when we recognize and face the problems can we
identify what causes them and eventually solve them later on. Further, only when we
accept these realities of life can we be able to know how we should live with them.
Maybe Sam Smith was also a Buddhist when he said in one of his songs that “too much
of a good thing isn’t good anymore”, because being too distracted makes us unaware
that we do things that would cause us more suffering.
College of Arts and Sciences

Second Noble Truth: Samudāya

When we are severely sick and cannot be remedied by simple medicines, our
instinct would be to go to a doctor. The first thing that the doctor would do is try to
figure out the illness and later on identify what caused it. It is only after this that a
prescription is given. Similar to this is what the Buddha did in order to provide his
followers with answers. After identifying the problem, which is suffering, he pointed out
that suffering has a cause. This is the second Noble Truth: samudāya or origin. In his
diagnosis, Buddha blamed the desire for sensual pleasure, the desire to be born again,
the desire for life to end as the source of human suffering. Simply put, desire, or tanha,
causes a person to suffer because it leads to attachment.
To cite an example, imagine that you are aspiring to get high grades. This
aspiration can be considered as a desire. If you cling to this idea and start putting in the
work, some sort of attachment on grades will eventually develop. Perhaps, because of
the effort you exert on studying, you will get high grades. However, working hard does
Religion, Religious Experience, & Spirituality
Lyceum University of the Philippines – Davao
not always guarantee that you will surely get excellent marks. Different factors like a
lazy group mate, an inconsiderate professor, and even the fatigue that your body feels,
can get in the way. Once you experience failing, especially for the first time, it will surely
feel painful. In Buddhist thought, suffering is caused by the desire that leads to
attachment. Imagine, if you did not desire and did not get attached to getting high
grades, you might have saved yourself from the suffering of too much studying and the
pain of failing. But of course, this is just an application of this concept, and please do
not take it literally.
In this religion, spiritual desires are not exempted. This kind of desire also leads to
attachments that eventually lead to suffering. Theravada Buddhism teaches that to
desire for existence to end will only lead to existence never coming to an end. Clinging
too much on the idea of liberation will only cause more rebirth and suffering. The
attachment to the idea of liberation is as deceiving as the attachment to the physical.
In fact, even Buddha learned this the hard way. In his story, before he reached nirvana,
he was trying too hard to find the answer to samsara. However, he was only liberated
when he stopped desiring to be liberated.
According to Buddhism and even modern-day psychology, the reason why we
desire is because of our sensory faculties – eyes, ears, tongue, nose, skin, etc. It is
through these sensory faculties that we get in contact and get a consciousness of the
material world. Imagine not having eyes. Without your eyes, you would not see beauty.
The same is true with the other parts of your sensory faculties. When what we perceive is
good and pleasing to us we eventually develop feelings and attachments; thus,
causing us to suffer because we let these things control us.
In our present culture where we are taught to desire and “go for it”, this concept
may sound strange. However, this problem might be because of the vague definition of
the word desire. According to Theravada Buddhism, the key is to stop trying too hard
and let things happen. We can better understand desire in this sense: wanting
something to the point that you are trying too hard. Buddhism tells us to stop trying too
hard.

Third Noble Truth: Nirodha

The third Noble Truth is perhaps the lighter side of Buddhism. This is where Buddha
affirms that an existence marked by suffering does not have to end in suffering. Buddha
believes that there is an end to suffering, which he called as nirodha, or the end of
suffering. It is only possible when a person reaches the state of nirvana, which means
extinguishing. In short, when a person experiences the same form of enlightenment as
what the Buddha experienced, liberation follows. Buddha believes that if he can
achieve it, so can his followers.
According to Buddhist scholars, there are two types of nirvana. The first type –the
naturalistic side – of nirvana happens in the here and now. In other words, it is the type
of liberation which a follower of Buddhism can attain while they are still alive. A person
who has reached this first state of nirvana does not immediately disappear to a
heavenly realm. This is the liberation from the worldly desires that cause a person to
College of Arts and Sciences

suffer. The second type – the metaphysical side – happens after the person dies. This is
the type of liberation that is concerned with the phenomenon of samsara. If the second
form of liberation is attained, then that person would not experience a rebirth. In short, it
is the liberation of the soul from the cycle of rebirth. Once a person achieves the first
type of nirvana, the second kind is already guaranteed
Maybe we can describe a person who has attained nirvana as someone who is
“unconditioned”. To be conditioned means to be caused or a state wherein
something is dependent or reliant on another thing. Therefore, unconditioned means
not being reliant or dependent on something else. This is how we must understand a
person who has attained nirvana – someone who is not controlled by his desires. An
enlightened person is someone who has successfully broken away from the shackles of
desires. He is someone who is in full control of his life. Arhant is the term used to refer to a
person who follows the teachings of Buddha and has achieved enlightenment.
The lotus flower is the image that is usually associated with Nirvana. This imagery
has a beautiful meaning behind it. A lotus flower grows in marshy and murky waters.
However, despite the condition it is subjected to, the lotus flower still manages to grow
Religion, Religious Experience, & Spirituality
Lyceum University of the Philippines – Davao
as a lovely and immaculately white flower that symbolizes purity. Like the lotus flower, a
person in a state of nirvana is not tainted by the stains of life.

Spirituality

Fourth Noble Truth: Magga

Buddha did not only make his followers realize the problem, but he also
provided them away on how to overcome it. According to him, there is away in
which suffering could end which he called magga, or the way to the end of
suffering. The coveted answer for ending suffering is surprisingly not a ritual to be
performed, but more of a manual or a guideline for living. The Buddha called it
The Middle Way or the Eightfold Path, As the term implies, it is all about
moderation – the place between too much and too little. The following are the
Eightfold Path:

1. Right Belief - We also call this as right understanding or right view. It implies
having a wide and proper perspective of reality. It also includes belief in
the dharma, the acceptance of the Four Noble Truths, and the
recognition of the three marks of existence: no permanent identity
(anatta) because people change every moment, impermanence
(annica) because everything changes, and suffering (suffering) because
it is part of human existence.

2. Right Aspiration - We can better understand this as having the right

purpose or right thought. It also implies that one should liberate
themselves from the desires of the senses such as malice and greed. This
also includes adopting thoughts of nonviolence and compassion. It is not
just showing compassion to a particular person, but exhibiting goodness to
everyone.

3. Right Speech - This simply means refraining from using one’s speech for
useless purposes. Bearing false witness to others, spreading gossip, and
using harsh words, are some examples of the things one should avoid.

4. Right Conduct - In simpler terms, this means that one should not perform
an action if it would hurt other living things, e.g. killing, stealing, illegal
sexual relations, gambling. It is promoting peaceful, honorable, and moral
conduct.

5. Right Means of Livelihood - Buddhist teachings do not deny its followers

from working, but instead advocate that one should toil in order to live.
However, there are occupations that one should avoid doing:
occupations that involve killing, involve commerce or services for hire,
College of Arts and Sciences

involve trickery and deception, and anything involving astrology. In short,

do not pursue a profession that would cause harm to others.

6. Right Endeavor - This means that one should pursue meaningful and
beneficial actions. It is also known as the right effort and avoiding any
form of action that will cause a negative karmic influence.

7. Right Mindfulness - This implies being aware, observant, and

contemplative of one’s self and of others. Contemplation is started by
focusing on breathing, becoming aware of the body, and its
impermanence. This is followed by checking on the flowing of emotions,
mental activities, and the objects of the mind.

8. Right Meditation - This is also known as right concentration acquired only

when the mind is properly focused. When meditations are performed, the
Religion, Religious Experience, & Spirituality
Lyceum University of the Philippines – Davao
person noticeably becomes calm and peaceful as they enter the state of
absorption into the spiritual, or samadhi. In this meditation, all attachments
are destroyed. In this stage, nirvana is at hand.

Theravada Buddhism categorizes the Eightfold Path into three. Right

speech, right action and right means of livelihood are categorized under
morality, or sila; while right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation fall under
concentration, or samadhi; lastly, right belief and right aspiration are classified
under wisdom, or prajna. These paths are all interconnected because wisdom is
founded on concentration, and both are founded on morality.
What is apparent in this Eightfold path is the use of the word right. It does
not use the word over and under to describe the amount of how the action must
be performed. The word right implies that the following word after it must be
done with a justifiable and sufficient amount. In short, it must be done with
moderation – not going over or under. This is why it is very important that the
followers of Buddha pay attention to what they are doing. Not paying attention
will just make bad things happen all over again. In short, mindfulness and
awareness is an important factor in order to attain enlightenment or liberation.

Summary and Conclusion

Let’s Close It!

In this module, we have discussed some of the important concepts and

teachings about Buddhism. We have learned that Buddhism began in India because
of the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, or the Buddha. As a religion coming from
India, it also has a concept of samsara, but it addresses this problem in a different
way. This religion advocates the Eightfold Path or the Middle Way as the solution to
humanity’s existential problems.
Perhaps what we can take away from this is the idea of the Middle Way
which teaches its followers to practice moderation. This teaching does not require us
to be a Buddhist in order to perform it, because any person with the right common
sense will be able to realize it. The middle way encourages a person to establish a
healthy relationship with their feelings and cravings. In order for that to be possible,
mindfulness of actions must always be practiced. However, because of the lives we
have now, it is difficult to constantly check on our feelings and desires because we
are too distracted by a lot of things. These distractions cause us to suffer, and
sometimes, it is too late to recognize that. Thus, the challenge for all of us is to re-
evaluate the things that we are doing and see to it that we are still doing them in the
right dosage.

Application
College of Arts and Sciences

Let’s Do It!

1. What do you learn from Buddhism?

________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________.

2. What is the most important lesson in Buddhism?

________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________.

3. Which aspect of Buddhism do you find most important and why?

________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________.
Religion, Religious Experience, & Spirituality
Lyceum University of the Philippines – Davao
4. What is one of the most important beliefs in Buddhism?
________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________.

5. What are the major branches and main belief of Buddhism?

6. What are the three most important beliefs in Buddhism?

________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________.

7. What are the important teaching and value in Buddhism?

________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________.

CLOSURE
Let’s Move Along!

Congratulations! You have finished the second module. You learned about the history,
teaching, belief system and principles of Buddhism. Now you are ready for Module 3 –
Hinduism.

College of Arts and Sciences