Notes and Key Terms R302 Fall 2001-02

Siddharta Gautama, born the son of a king, of the kshatriya or warrior class, became the "Sage of the Sakya Clan, the Awakened One," Sakyamuni Buddha

Mother - Queen Maya, Father - King Suddhodana,

Wife - Princess Yasodhara, Son - Rahula, Aunt - Prajapati, Young woman - Sujata

Four Noble Truths -

• Suffering
• Cause of Suffering, Peace (Cessation)
• Path Out of Suffering

Three Marks of Existence

• Anatman (No-self)
• Impermanence
• Pratitya-samudpada (Dependent Co-origination)

Three Refuges

• Buddha - Awakened one,
• Dharma - Teaching about awakening, reality
• Sangha - religious community of Buddhist monks and nuns - eventually included lay people

Three Baskets (Tripitaka)

• Sutra - Words and Teachings of the Buddha
• Sastra - Commentaries on the Sutras
• Vinaya - Monastic Regulations for the Sangha (individual regulations: sila)

Samsara - realm of suffering; nirvana - realm of peace, enlightenment

Nikaya Buddhism - early Buddhism, eventually spread to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia (except Vietnam)

Mahayana Buddhism - ("Greater Vehicle Buddhism") developed around the beginning of the Common Era and spread throughout North, Central, and East Asia (including China, Korea, and Japan)

Hinayana Buddhism - ("Lesser Vehicle Buddhism") is the name for Nikaya Buddhism according to Mahayanists.

Nagarjuna - The first great master and philosopher of Mahayana Buddhism. Expounded the two-fold truth of form and emptiness, conventional truth and highest truth.