Buddhism A Structure

I created this diagram to assist my future posts on Buddhist themes.  Below are links and texts to help explain the outline.  It is my hope that this diagram aids the reader in visually organizing the dharma (the Buddha’s teachings) in a way that makes it easier to remember, question and discuss.

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)