All Nations Theological Seminary

A Paper Presentation on:

“Buddhism”

Submitted to:

Dr. Bal Krishna Sharma

In partial fulfillment for the Requirements of the Course

Major World Religions

Expected words: 1000 words Actual

Expected date of submission: 07/12/2021 Actual date of

We declare that this paper presentation is our own unaided works: we have
not copied it from any person, article, book, website or other form of storage.
Every idea or phase that is not our own has been duly acknowledge.

Submitted by:

Group 4: Mr. Alen Thapa, Mr. Ashok Chettri, Miss. Tam Yanu

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 M. Div III

Introduction

For more than 2500 years Buddhism has been a major influence on world civilization. It is a
religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based
on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama commonly known as the Buddha (Awakened
One). The Buddhism has two main divisions and many sects. The two main divisions are
Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. Its teaching about belief and conduct is designed to meet
human need, and to solve man’s spiritual problems without reliance on the supernatural. It is
sometimes called a “Do-it-Yourself” religion. So, this paper briefly gives an idea about the
founder of Buddhism, Buddha and His main teaching such as Three Marks of suffering, The
Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path, Karma and Rebirth and Nirvana.

1. Life of Buddha

Buddha’s personal name was Siddhartha. The general belief is that he was born in the 6 th century
B.C in a royal family. It is said that he had three palaces, one for the cold season, one for the hot
an done for seasons of rains.1 His father took all precautions to guard his son from anything that
would cause him pain or displeasure, but this could not be done for ever. The time came when
the young prince saw the cruel realities of life. The Old age, the sight of disease, death and other
miseries awakened him to a consciousness of human suffering to which human being is subject.
Buddha spent years in study, penance and meditation to discover the origin of human sufferings
and the means to overcome them. 2 According to the tradition, Gautama was twenty nine years of
age when the decisive events occurred which led to his enlightenment. Thereafter he became
known as the Buddha, which means Enlightened One. The Word for Enlightenment is “bodhi”,
and the tree under which he won enlightenment came to be known as the Bodhi Tree or Bo tree.
The Buddha was thirty five years old when he attained enlightenment. For forty years after that
he travelled up and down northern India, teaching and preaching the message of hope and

1
V.S. Lalrinawma, Major Faith Traditions of India, (Delhi: ISPCK, 2007) 87.
2
David A. Brown, A Guide to Religions, (Delhi: ISPCK, 2012), 123.

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happiness, and making many converts. He lived a life of unceasing activity. He passed away at
the age of eighty at Kusinara on a full moon day.3

2. Teachings of Buddhism

2.1 Three Marks of Existence: The Three Marks of Existence are a good way to get an idea of
the basic Buddhist Worldview.

a. Impermanence (anitya): The most basic Buddhist insight is that all of reality is constantly
changing. Our bodies, thoughts, feelings and all the things of the world are all in an ongoing
process of change. Since all things are always changing, no thing we ever encounter is truly real.4

b. Suffering (dukkha): The mark of impermanence leads directly to the second mark of
existence – suffering. The Buddha outlined three sense in which ordinary life is marked by
suffering, all of which are due to impermanence. First, life is marked by suffering in the most
obvious physical sense. Second, life is marked by suffering in that happiness and enjoyment,
even when attained are fleeting and do not last. Third, life is marked by suffering because of the
very nature of human mind. Our minds naturally respond to life’s pain and disappointments by
giving rise to certain unwholesome and painful states such as hatred, fear , greed and anger. Thus
in Buddhist analysis, human existence is marked by suffering.5

c. No Self (anatman): Buddhism says there is no soul. The So called I said the Buddha is only a
combination of ever changing forces which together make up a being. These forces includes the
sensations of sight, hearing and touch, the activities of the mind and the qualities of things as
they are such as solidity, heat and movement. Where there forces act together there is a being
which takes a certain form and is given a name. Thus the combination of physical and mental
forces creates and illusion that there is a person when in fact there is no permanent self. It is this
illusion that begets the notion of I, me, mine and this in turn produces desire or craving.6

3
Brown, A Guide to Religions, 123.
4
John M. Thompson, Introduction to the World’s Major Religions, (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2006),
46.
5
Thompson, Introduction to the World’s Major Religions, 46.
6
Thompson, Introduction to the World’s Major Religions, 47.

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2.2 Theory of Karma and Rebirth The law of karma is seen as a natural law inherit in the
nature of things, like a law of Physics. Rebirth for Buddhist is not due to a reincarnating soul but
is rather a continuous, moment by moment process of creation and destruction, death and
rebirth.7

2.3. The Four Noble Truth and Eight Fold Path

Ultimately the Four noble truths come down to a way of formulating the Buddha’s basic insights
into the Three Marks of existence and applying them directly to human life.

a. Existence is suffering

b. Suffering is caused by desire

c. Suffering can be overcome

d. The way to overcome suffering is by following the Eightfold Path

The Eightfold Path are as follows:

In morality

Right Speech- abstaining from untruthfulness, harsh language, and vain talk

Right Action- abstaining from killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct.

Right Livelihood- earning a living in a way not harmful to any living thing.

In Concentration-

Right Effort- avoiding evil thoughts and overcoming them, arousing good thoughts and
maintaining them.

Right Mindfulness- paying vigilant attention to every state of the body, feeling, and mind

Right concentration- concentrating on a single object so as to induce certain states of

In Wisdom
7
Lalrinawma, Major Faith Traditions of India, 89.

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Right views- understanding the Four Truths

Right thought- freedom from ill-will, lust, cruelty, and untruthfulness.8

3. Nirvana (Concept of Slavation)

It is clear that the goal of Buddhism is Nirvana. The original concept of Nirvana was the
extinction of all desires and the final release from all the sufferings. So, it is the key concept in
Buddhism, that Nirvana is the final goal for the Buddhists. Nirvana (nibbana) literally means
"blowing out" or "quenching". It is the most used as well as the earliest term to describe the goal
in Buddhism: release from the cycle of rebirth (samsara). Rebirth in Buddhism refers to the
teaching that the actions of a person lead to a new existence after death that is impression not
soul. This cycle is considered to be dukkha. The cycle stops only if moksha – liberation, is
achieved by insight and the extinguishing of carving. In the Buddhist tradition, nirvana is
described as the extinguishing of the fires, The Buddhist texts identify these that "three fires" or
"three poisons" as raga (greed, sensuality), dvesha (dislike, hate) and avidyā or moha (ignorance,
delusion).Nirvana, the state to which all Buddhists aspire, is the cessation of desire and hence the
end of suffering.To achieve nirvana, Buddhists believe that the human life is one of suffering,
and that meditation, and good behavior are the ways to achieve enlightenment, or nirvana.The
ultimate goal of the Buddhist path is release from the round of phenomenal existence with its
inherent suffering. To achieved this goal is to attain nirvana, an enlightened state in which the
fires of greed, hatred, and ignorance have been quenched. 9

Conclusion

Buddhism claims to be one of the most reasonable of the world’s great religions. Apart from all
things mentioned above Buddhist acts of worship begins with the recital of the formula of
homage to the Buddha. Worshippers offer offerings at all places of worship. Worshippers offer
prayers and invocation for human needs and material blessings. There are numerous ceremonies
and festivals of Buddhists. However, the philosophy and religion of Buddhism sums up with the
suffering and the enduring of the suffering, and with the aim of being free from suffering.
Therefore it always contradicts with the teachings of Christianity and thus there are some

8
Brown, A Guide to Religions,
9
Christopher, Augustus. Major Religions of India, (publisher: ISPCK. Delhi), 218.

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difficulties for sharing gospel and reaching out the Buddhists. Suffering, living ethically and
morally good life is the aspect that none religion can deny. But the fact we should know as a
Christians is that our life at the present in this earth and beyond after life depends on God. We
are not at all anything without the one who has made us and without whom the existence of
everything is impossible.

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Bibliography

A. Brown, David. A Guide to Religions. Delhi: ISPCK, 2012.

Christopher, Augustus. Major Religions of India, Delhi: ISPCK, 2001.

Lalrinawma, V.S. Major Faith Traditions of India. Delhi: ISPCK, 2007.

M. Thompson, John. Introduction to the World’s Major Religions. Westport: Greenwood Press,
2006.