community - sangha

teaching - dharma

buddha - one who has awakened, gained enlightenment

1. suffering exists

2.  arising of suffering- it is caused by our attachments

3.  cessation from suffering - stop suffering by squelching the ego

4.  there is a path that leads to this

The Buddha

Siddartha Gautama

sakyamuni

-protected and unaware of the sufferings of life, a prince

-learned of the suffering by seeing a dead person, an old person, a sick person, and monk

-buddha as teacher

-at death, entered parinirvana

one school of buddhism= focus on the buddha's life as a template to reach nirvana.  ascetic life.  goal is nirvana.  enlightenment is the knowledge of the 4 truths.

very stark- sort of catholic 

happiness

understanding of mechanisms of life and death

wisdom (prajna)

loss of all desire

no attachments

liberation

actions taken in this life that influence placement of rebirth in the next.  

actions afflicted by conciousness whether they are right or wrong

following the Buddha, theravada approach.  monks and nuns or a otherwise a lifestyle that resigns from society.  often homeless, wearing rags, living off of alms.

austerity

self denial

control and mastery of the mind and body

resigning from the world

asks the questions:

what is the goal of the religion?

how is that goal acheived?

a very ETIC study of a religion

focused more on practices than the actual belief involved

religious specialist

standard of perfection

can be a teacher, bodhisattva, buddha, etc.

thaumaturge

thaumaturgey

a virtuoso who steps into the role of miracle worker.

virtuosos are important in society for this fuction

thaumaturgey = anything paranormal

practiced more by the lay-people

mahayana school

buddha becomes more than just a teacher and template, but a supernatural being worthy of DEVOTION

the incarnation of a god on earth

(marra, brahma, etc.)

buddha amitabha

pure land

buddha of infinite light, infinite life, and extreme bliss

keeps the pure land= another goal for people

helper bodhisattva to the buddha amitabha

cares about ordinary people's daily lives

often a target of devotion

mixed style-  both ascetic and devotional (like vilamakirti)

6 perfections

intersection of devotion and action

complete enlightenment

"one that comes/goes"  "but is neither coming nor going"

meaning- the buddhas

cataphatic

apophatic

positive description

negative

truths

absolute = ultimate truth beyond the scope of our lives and the world

conventional = the truths we use in our lives with the tools we have

YOU USE THE RAFT OF CONVENTIONAL TRUTH TO REACH THE SHORE OF ABSOLUTE TRUTH, AT WHICH POINT YOU DITCH THE RAFT OF C.T.

denial of the validity of the religion

what are the reprocussions of this?

1.  conservative asnwer

2.  experimental answer

realize that the buddhist teachings help you reach nirvana, but once youve gotten there they become invalid

to deny everything in the world you must also deny the ways in which you are able to deny the world

RAFT

pokes fun at its own religion and practices in the process of doing them

religion pulling the rug out from underneath itself

buddhist life directly expressing the emptiness of its teachings

uses irony, mockery, playfullness

PARASITE STYLE=  relies on the prior existence of mahayana buddhism in order to poke fun at it

ways in which experimental trickster style is implemented

carnivalism

antinomianism

iconoclasm

iconoclasm = rejecting venerated objects by using sacred relics in nonsacred ways (using a sacred chair for firewood)  .  also, denies sacred symbols and beleifs

antinomianism = intentional transgression of religious law or role- denotes religious conviction (celebate monk writing erotic love poetry)

carnivalism = subversive play with rituals, word usage, teasing, rules, values, social expectations  (shouting expletives in the middle of a teaching)

zen buddhism

hagiography

part of the trickster style

-values a simplified, natural life

-accepts surroundings, pursues nothing further

-claims that you should search no farther, you have what you need  PUTTING THE HEAD ON THE HEAD

=quest is to overcome questing.  

-teacher's role is to block that questing

-ritualized eccentricity/spontinaity, scripted to act like a zen master, often due to...

-hagriography= religious writings that intentionally create an exaggerated characterization.  FOR ZEN TEACHERS- Makes a caricature of the master’s craziness.  The masters didn’t actually act out that much, but now they do because it is expected from the teachings

approach to buddhism that treats it like a spiritual resource, drawing on it, but not necessarily bound to the rituals/traditions of where its practiced

1.  heritage buddhism= imported by immigrants.  religious places (temples) function as community center and shrine

2. convert buddhism= much more loosely based.  white, middle aged, uppermiddle class peeps.  getting what they want out of buddhism, be it enlightenment or stress releif, etc.

1.  romantic= back to nature, mystery and magic lost by modernization

2. rationalists= works well with science, most modern, simple, practical

IT APPEALS TO ALL SORTS!