Friday, August 20, 2010

Buddhist Diagrams

The first is from:
 
a raft
The author isn't entirely certain of it's source but it's well done by an obviously Buddhist scholar. 
 
The second is from the Atheist/Agnostic blog:
 
 
Sabio Lantz, blogger at Triangulations, created that one and he adds the following notes of explanation:

NOTES

  • Sectarianism:  Just as in Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism …, Buddhism has a plethora of sects.  Each sect has its own spin on doctrines with similar names.  This model contains much which is common between Buddhist sects but each sub-aspect is handled differently between the sects.
  • Terms:  The early texts of Buddhism are in Sanskrit and Pali.   Transliteration systems for Sanskrit abound — I am sure I will be inconsistent.  I try to stick to Sanskrit only because it was part of my studies at one point.   For a similar reason, I added a few Chinese/Japanese terms.
  • Siddhartha Gautama: (wiki) The founder of Buddhism.
  • The Three Jewels (triratna): (wiki) The basic creed of Buddhism.
  • 3 Bodies (trikaya): (wiki) The metaphysical understanding of the Buddha (interpreted very differently between sects).
  • The Four Noble Truths: (wiki) A medical model – Diagnosis: there is dissatisfaction (“dukkha”); Pathology: it has a cause; Prognosis: it is curable; Treatment: the 8-fold path is the treatment.
  • Duhkha: (wiki) from Sanskrit (Pali: dukkha), variously translated:  dissatisfaction (my favorite), suffering (physical pain and emotional turmoil), misery, bitterness. On the chart, I kept it in Sanskrit because it is short!
  • The Eight-Fold Path (marga): (wiki) Buddhism is essentially the elaboration of all these aspects.  It would take a huge chart to illustrate the “Meditative Training aspects” as it would the others — this is an Intro chart.  For example, I have only set-off three subjects from within just one of these because I find them important to Buddhism and I have written about them (or alluded to them elsewhere on my blog).
    • Three Marks of Existence: (wiki)  My related posts: Many Selves, No Self.
    • Interdependence: (wiki) This is a crucial idea in Buddhism.  It can be viewed through both positive (True Mind) and negative (Deluded Mind) cycles of causation (see Thich Nhat Hanh (below)). My mildly related posts: En
    • Two Truths: (wiki) My related posts: Levels of Truth
    • Four Immeasurable Minds:  (wiki) mental trainings to aid in freeing the deluded mind from suffering.

Source Texts:

  • Buddhism: a modern perspective.  Prebish, Charles, 1978 (amazon)
  • The Vision of Buddhism. Roger J. Corless, 1989 (amazon)
  • An Introduction to Buddhism: teachings, history and practices. Peter Harvey, 1990. (excellent academic intro) (amazon)
  • Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. John Powers, 1995. (amazon)
  • The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation.  Thich Nhat Hanh, 1999 (highly recommended). (amazon)
  • An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics. Peter Harvey, 2000. (amazon)

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