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THE
FOUNDATIONS OF BUDDHISM
THE THREE
JEWELS
1. Buddha
2. Dharma
3. Sangha
THE THREE REFUGES
1. I take refuge in Buddha, and I wish all
sentient beings, Will awaken to the Great Path, and make the Supreme Resolution.
2. I take refuge in Dharma, and I wish all sentient beings, Will
penetrate the sutras, their wisdom as deep as the ocean.
3. I take
refuge in Sangha, and I wish all sentient beings, Will be brought together in
Great Harmony, without any obstructions at all.
THE FOUR NOBLE
TRUTHS
1. Suffering exists.
2. Suffering has an
identifiable cause: Desire to be and to have.
3. That cause may be
terminated.
4. The means by which that cause may be terminated is the
Noble Eightfold Path.
THE THREE PILLARS
1. Sila: Morality, charity &
compassion.
2. Dhyâna: Practice & Concentration.
3. Prajna:
Wisdom.
THE NOBLE EIGHT FOLD PATH
(Prajna)
1. Right understanding
2. Right
thought
(Sila)
3.
Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
(Dhyâna)
6. Right
effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right concentration
THE ABSOLUTE
TRUTH
Ultimate Reality. There is no "I" or being in to
be found in any phenomena (namely the five aggregates).
THE RELATIVE
TRUTH
The conventional truth. There is no self or being
but we speak of truth conforming to the convention.
THE FIVE
PRECEPTS
1. I will not kill
2. I will not steal
3. I will not engage in sexual misconduct
4. I will not
lie
5. I will not take intoxicating beverages or drugs
THE FOUR GREAT VOWS
1. I vow to deliver innumerable sentient beings.
2. I vow to cut off endless vexations.
3. I vow to master
limitless approaches to Dharma.
4 I vow to attain supreme Buddhahood.
THE THREE POISONS
(FIRES)
1. Greed
2. Hatred
3.
Ignorance
THE FIVE
HINDRANCES
1. Sexual desire
2. Ill will
3.
Sloth and torpor (laziness)
4. Restlessness and worry
5.
Doubt
THE THREE MARKS OF
EXISTENCE
1. Suffering (unsatifactoriness)
2.
Impermanence
3. Not self
THE BRAHMA VIHARAS
(FOUR SUBLIME STATES)
1. Loving - kindness
2.
Compassion
3. Appreciation.
4. Equanimity
SAMANTABHADRA'S TEN
GREAT VOWS
1. The first, to worship and respect all Buddhas.
2. The second, to praise the Tathagatas.
3. The third, to
cultivate the giving of offerings.
4. The fourth, to repent all karmic
obstructions.
5. The fifth, to rejoice in the merits of others.
6. The sixth, to request the turning of the Dharma wheel.
7. The
seventh, to request that the Buddhas dwell in the world.
8. The eighth,
to always follow the Buddhas in study.
9. The ninth, to always harmonize
with livings beings.
10. The tenth, to transfer all merits to all
others.
All Buddhas of the past, present and future in all quarters.
All Bodhisattva Mahasattvas. Maha Prajna Paramita.
TEN PARAMITAS
(Perfections)
1. Generosity
2. Morality
3.
Renunciation
4. Wisdom
5. Energy
6. Patience
7.
Truthfulness
8. Determination
9. Loving-kindness
10.
Equanimity
THE FIVE
AGGREGATES
1. The Aggregate of
form (matter). This includes the body, which is analyzed in
the terms of four elements (solidity, fluidity, heat and motion) and their
derivatives, which include our five basic sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue,
body).
2. The Aggregate of feeling or
sensation. Feeling/sensation are of three kinds: pleasant,
unpleasant and neutral, and arise out of contact between a sense organ and a
sense object. One extra sense organ comes into play here: the mind, which
apprehends mind-objects (ideas, mental images, etc.)
3.The aggregate of perception. Perception is
the faculty that actually recognizes an object by picking up its distinctive
features. Its data comes via the interaction of the five sense organs and the
mind with appropriate objects.
4.The aggregate of
mental formations. This encompasses all the willed activities
of mind, plus a few others.
5. The aggregate of
consciousness. When a sense organ or the mind makes contact
with an appropriate object, simple awareness but not actual recognition of that
object is the function of consciousness, which arises in dependence on that
object.
DEPENDENT
ORIGINATION
Dependent Origination is the doctrine of
conditionality of all physical and physical phenomena.
1. Ignorance gives rise to
2. Volitional
action, which in turn gives rise to
3. Conditioned consciousness, which
in turn gives rise to
4. Name-and-form, which in turn gives rise to
5. The six bases, i.e., the five senses and mind, which in turn give
rise to
6. Sense-impressions (Contact), which in turn give rise
to
7. Feelings, which in turn give rise to
8. Desire or craving,
which in turn give rise to
9. Attachment, which in turn gives rise
to
10. Becoming, (the life- or rebirth process), which in turn gives rise
to
11. Birth (or rebirth), which gives rise to
12. Old age, death
- grief, lamentation, illness, sorrow, and despair.
THE TRIKAYA
DOCTRINE
1. Nirmanakaya: his "Transformation (or
Appearance) body." This is the body in which he appears in the world
for the benefit of suffering beings. It is not a real, physical body but more a
phantom-like appearance assumed by
2. Dharmakaya:
his "dharma body," wherein he is one with the eternal dharma that
lies beyond all dualities and conceptions. There is also
3. Sambhogakaya: his "Enjoyment (or Bliss) body."
This is body that appears to bodhisattvas in the celestial realm where they
commune with the truth of the Mahayana.
THE TEN FETTERS
The ten factors that bind
individuals to samsaric existence
1. Belief in personality
2. Skepticism
3. Attachment to rules and rituals
4. Sensuous craving
5.
Ill will
6. Craving for material existence
7. Craving for
non-material existence
8. Conceit
9. Restlessness
10.
Ignorance
THE TWELVE
ENTRANCES
The six sense - organs, (eye, ear, nose, tongue,
body and mind) and the six sense objects (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and
thought).
THE EIGHTEEN
REALMS
The realms of the six sense - organs, their sense
- objects and their perceptions.
THE SIX REALMS OF
REBIRTH
1. Heaven
2. Diva (Asura)
3.
Human
4. Animal
5. Ghost
6. Hell
THE FOUR
ELEMENTS
1. Earth (solid)
2. Water (liquid)
3. Fire (heat)
4. Wind (motion)
THE FOUR CLINGINGS
The 4 kinds of Clinging are: Sensuous Clings,
Clinging to Views, Clinging to mere Rules and Ritual, Clinging to the
Personality - Belief
1. "What now is the Sensuous Clinging? Whatever with regard to
sensuous objects there exists of sensuous lust, sensuous desire, sensuous
attachment, sensuous passion, sensuous deludedness, sensuous fetters: this is
called sensuous clinging.
2. "What is the Clinging to Views" 'Alms and
offerings are useless... there is no fruit and result for good and bad
deeds...': all such view and wrong conceptions are called the clinging views.
3. "What is the Clinging to mere Rules and Ritual? The holding firmly to
the view that through mere rules and ritual one may reach purification: this is
called the clinging to mere rules and ritual.
4. "What is the Clinging
to the Personality - Belief? The 20 kinds of Ego-views with regard to the group
of existence these are called the clinging to the Personality - belief."
WARNING TO THE
ASSEMBLY
(to be contemplated towards the day's end)
This day has passed.
Our lives, too, are
closing.
Like fish with little water,
Joy will not last.
Let us work
with pure effort.
Work as we would were our heads aflame.
Be mindful of
impermanence.
Be careful of idleness.