Key Concepts of Buddhism

Concept of Nirvana

In Hinduism and Buddhism, Nirvana is the

highest state that someone can attain. It is a
state of enlightenment which means that a
person's individual desires and sufferings are
extinguished. It is a state of profound spiritual
joy, without negative emotions and fears.
Buddhists believe that someone who has
attained enlightenment is filled with
compassion for all living things.
Concept of Morality

The Buddha taught about "karmic

conditioning" which is a process by which a
person's nature is shaped by his moral
actions. This means that every action a
person takes molds his/her character for
the future. Both positive and negative
traits can become magnified and all of
these cause a person to acquire karma.
Concept of the Great Tragedy of
Existence

The great tragedy of existence from a

Buddhist's point of view is that it is
both endless and subject to
impermanence, suffering and
uncertainty. These three are called
'tilakhana' or three signs of existence.
*Existence is endless because individuals
are reincarnated over and over again,
experiencing suffering throughout many
lives.

*It is impermanent because no state, good

or bad, lasts forever. People's mistaken
belief that things can last is the chief cause
of suffering
*It is uncertain because when people
examine their experience, no knower
can be defined and no enduring
essence of experience can be located.

*Only achieving liberation or Nirvana

can free a human being from the cycle
of life, death and rebirth
Concept on the Origin of the Universe

Buddhism has no creator god to explain the origin of

the universe. Instead it teaches that everything
depends on everything else - present events are
caused by past events and become the cause of
future events

Indian religions often see space and time as cyclical,

such that world systems come into being, survive for a
time, are destroyed and then are remade. In
Buddhism, this happens naturally without the
intervention of gods.
Mahayana Buddhism
One of the major branches of Buddhist
belief. Mahayana originated in India
and subsequently spread in East Asia.
Followers of Mahayana Buddhism
traditionally regarded their doctrine as
the full revelation of the nature and
teachings of the Buddha in opposition
of the earlier Theravada tradition.
Symbol: Lotus Blossom
Lotus is a symbol of purity of
the body, speech and mind as
while rooted in the mud, its
flowers blossom on long stalks
as if floating above the muddy
waters of attachment and
desire
 Basic Facts:

Founder: Siddharta Guatama (563-483 B.C)

Sacred Texts: Sutras
Doctrines: Four Noble Truths, 8 Fold Path,
The 6 Perfections to become a Bodhisattva
God: Non theistic
Sacred Space: Temple
Universality and Growth of Sects: Zen
Buddhism
Issues: Tibet invasion, Engaged in activism
Sacred Texts: Mahayana Sutras
Are 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, and in extant Sanskrit
manuscript. Around 100 Mahayana
Sutras survive in Sanskrit or in Chinese
and Tibetan translations.