Buddhist basics
Central concepts in Buddhism.
The four truths
Often described as Buddhism’s central insights
- Dukkha: Life is marked by unsatisfactoriness
- Samudaya: Unsatisfactoriness is caused by grasping
- Nirodha: Unsatisfactoriness can have an end
- Marga: The “middle way,” or eightfold path of liberation
The eightfold path
The middle way, or path of liberation
- Right view
- Right resolve
- Right speech
- Right conduct
- Right livelihood
- Right effort
- Right mindfulness
- Right concentration
Three marks of existence
Perceived in meditation, they lead to wisdom
- Anitya, the impermanence of things
- Anatman, the insubstantiality of ego identity
- Dukkha, pervasive unsatisfactoriness
The five precepts
Ethical rules for laypeople
- Not killing
- Not stealing
- Not misusing sex
- Not lying
- Not becoming intoxicated
Three schools of Buddhism
- Theravada, the ‘way of the elders’: South and Southeast Asia (exluding Vietnam)
- Mahayana, the ‘great vehicle’: China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, including Zen, Pure Land, Lotus, and others
- Vajrayana, the ‘diamond way’: Tibet and Mongolia
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