Buddhism Review and Tantric (Tibetan) Buddhism

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Buddhism Review and Tantric (Tibetan) Buddhism
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The Three Jewels

• Also translated as 3 Gems, Precious Things,
  etc.
• The Buddha
• the awakened one
• The Dharma (Dhamma)
• the Truth he realized
• The Sangha
• the community

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Three Jewels The Buddha

• Literal meaning the awakened one
• A title, not a proper name
• Shakyamuni Buddha most recent of many buddhas
• Not a God
• an extraordinary human being
• more a guide than a savior
• As one of the Three Jewels
• the goal of human growth and development to
  which Buddhists aspire
• exemplar what it is to be truly and fully human

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Three Jewels The Dharma

• Two (related) meanings
• the Truth--the nature of reality--realized by the
  Buddha
• all of the Buddhas teachings leading to that
  Truth
• Going for Refuge to the Dharma
• seeking to realize that truth/reality
• by using the teaching of the buddhas
• Dharma Dhamma
• Sanskrit Pali language

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Three Jewels The Sangha

• The Community of those following the Path of the
  Buddha
• An important distinction
• Arya-Sangha those who have been liberated or
  awakened
• Maha-Sangha all those following the path of the
  buddhas
• Buddhists go for refuge to the Arya-Sangha

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The Wheel of Life

• A mirror viewed in four ways, four aspects of
  existence
• The Three Poisons
• greed the rooster
• hatred the snake
• delusion the pig
• Two orders of conditionality
• ascending
• descending
• Six Realms of Existence
• Twelve-fold Chain of Cause and Condition

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The Wheel of Life

• Six Realms of Existence
• gods
• titans (warring gods)
• humans
• animals
• hungry ghosts
• denizens of the hell realms

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The Wheel of Life

• Six Realms of Existence
• Hierarchy of life-forms or forms of existence
• Interpermeable levels of existence
• Form is incidental, not essential to ones being
  (becoming)
• Human form best suited to gain enlightenment
• Understood in two way
• Options for future re-birth
• Options for experiencing present human existence

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The Wheel The Vicious Circle of Samsara

• Old Age Death lt re-Birth lt
• Becoming (desire for continued existence) lt
• Grasping lt Craving lt Feeling lt
• Contact lt Six Sensory Faculties lt
• Name-and-form lt Consciousness lt
• Predispositions (karma formations)lt Ignorance

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WheelofSamsara
1. Ignorance
2. Predispositions
12. Old Age Death
3. Consciousness
11. (re)-Birth
4 Name-and-Form
10. Becoming
5. Six sensory faculties
9.Grasping
8. Craving
6. Contact
7. Feeling
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The Wheel The Vicious Circle of Samsara

• All of this represents the recurrent cycle of
  Suffering
• With no awareness it will loop back round to
  re-iterate itself
• With awareness the option of the Path opens
  

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Stopping the Wheel Three Junctures

• Past as the Cause for Present
• 1-2 ignorance karma formations (dispositions)
• Present as the Result of Past Causes (1-2)
• 3-7 consciousness, psychophysical organism, six
  senses, contact feeling
• Present as the Cause for Future
• 8-10 craving, grasping, and becoming
• Future as the Result of Present
• 11-12 (re)-birth and decay-and-death

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WheelofSamsara
1. Ignorance
2. Predispositions
12. Old Age Death
3. Consciousness
11. (re)-Birth
4 Name-and-Form
10. Becoming
5. Six sensory faculties
9.Grasping
8. Craving
6. Contact
7. Feeling
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Principle of Conditionality (applied)
Previous Life
past
present
future
1-2
3-7
8-10
11-12
Current Life
past
present
future
8-10
11-12
3-7
1-2
past causal process
present resultant process
present causal process
future resultant process
Next Life
past
present
future
1-2
3-7
8-10
11-12
The Gap between Feeling Craving --Opportunity
for Change--
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II. Three Historical Phases of Buddhism

• 1. Early Conservative Buddhism---focusing on the
• Developmental Dimension
• 2. The Mahayana Revitalization---focusing on the
• Relational Dimension
• 3. Phase Three Diversity (Pure Land, Zen
  Vajrayana)--- focusing on the
• Technical Dimension

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Principle Schools of Third-Phase Buddhism

• All grow out of the Mahayana movement
• Vajrayana Buddhism, the Tantric Buddhist
  tradition of India Tibet
• Chan or Zen Buddhism, the East Asian school
  centered on meditative practice
• Pure Land Buddhism, the East Asian school
  centered on devotional practice directed
  towards rebirth in the Pure Land of Amitabha
  (Amida) Buddha

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Characteristics of 3rd-Phase Buddhism

• emphasis on the technical aspect of the path,
  on radical powerful techniques
• liberation here and now union of wisdom
  and method
• focus on immediate worldly context concerns
  as the context for enlightenment
• rejection of scholasticism
• Remember 3rd-Phase Buddhism includes
• Vajrayana, Zen, Pure Land Buddhism,
• three different schools of Buddhism

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Tantra in Vajrayana Buddhism

• Sutra thread
• vs.
• Tantra something woven
• Origins of Tantra lie outside of both
• Buddhism and Hinduism

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The Vajrayana Buddhism of Tibet

• The Three Vehicles
• Hinayana
• Mahayana
• Vajrayana

Tantra
Sutra-yana Mantra-yana (Tantra-yana)
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Vajrayana Buddhism

• 1. Tantra is Concerned with Direct Experience
• 2. Tantra Works with Symbols and Magic
• 3. Tantra Addresses the Whole Person
• 4. Tantra Sees the World in Terms of Energy
• 5. Tantra Makes Use of the Strongest Experiences
  of Life
• 6. Tantra Sees Samsara and Nirvana as
  Interrelated
• 7. Tantra Begins at the Highest Point
  enact enlightenment

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Tantra in Vajrayana Buddhism

• Key Elements of Tantric Buddhism
• mantra
• mandala
• magic (mysticism) magical world view
  homologies between microcosm and macrocosm
• demonic dimension of human experience sex
  death
• esotericism importance of relying on a guru or
  lama

(both already present in Mahayana)
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Tantra in Vajrayana Buddhism

• Some definitions of mantra
• the sound expressing some fundamental structure
  of existence a seed-syllable or power
  syllable
• mind protector
• "word(s) believed to be of 'superhuman origin,'
  received, fashioned, and spoken by the 'inspired'
  seers, poets, and reciters in order to evoke
  divine power(s) and especially as means of
  creating, conveying, concentrating, and realizing
  intentional and efficient thought, and of coming
  into touch or identifying oneself with the
  essence of the divinity which is present in the
  mantra. Jan Gonda

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The Vajrayana Buddhism of Tibet

• Vajrayana Forms of Practice
• Purely Mahayana Forms
• example Healing Anger meditations
• Mahayana Forms with Tantric elements
• example Visualization Practices
• Focused on the Archetypal buddhas bods.
• Use of mantras mandalas
• Tantric Forms (with Buddhist content)
• example Tibetan Book of the Dead practices

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Mantra and Mandala in Vajrayana Practice

• Visualization Practice (Deity-yoga) in the
  Mahayana
• Establish a relationship of veneration
  aspiration
• Awareness of the difference distance to be
  traversed
• Visualization Practice in the Tantric Vajrayana
• Establish a relationship of aspiration
  identification
• Awareness of the immediacy proximity of the goal

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Vajrayana Buddhism

• Vajra
• Thunder-bolt
• Diamond

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Vajrayana Buddhism

• Bell Vajra
• Wisdom Means
• Wisdom in Action

More on Sacred Objects http//www.lib.virginia.edu
/exhibits/dead/ceremon.html
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Vajrayana Buddhism Death

• Reflections on Death
• I. Death is certain (i.e., inevitable).
• II. The time of death is uncertain (i.e.,
  unpredictable).
• III. Only spiritual practice is of help at the
  time of death.

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Vajrayana Buddhism Death

• Reflections on Death
• I. Death is certain (i.e., inevitable).
• A. Death will come and we will not be able to
  escape it.
• B. Life diminishes uninterruptedly we cannot
  augment it.
• C. A normal life leaves little time for
  spiritual practice one is either too young, too
  busy with family, or too old.

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Vajrayana Buddhism Death

• Reflections on Death
• II. The time of death is uncertain (i.e.,
  unpredictable).
• A. Life in general is short moreover, the young
  and healthy may die before the old and infirm.
• B. There are few causes of life, many of death,
  and the former can easily turn into the latter.
• C. The body is weak and susceptible.

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Vajrayana Buddhism Death

• Reflections on Death
• III. Only spiritual practice is of help at the
  time of death
• A. Wealth is of no help.
• B. Friends and relatives cannot help.
• C. Even ones own body cannot help.