basis of beliefs

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

TheBuddha

Siddattha Gotama was probably born in 563 BCE, in Kapilavastu near the India/Nepal border.He was the prince of a small kingdom but at 29 he left his home and family to seek a better way of life. He was looking for peace and spiritual truth which would release him from the cycle of rebirths. After six years he discovered this enlightenment while sitting and meditating under a bodhi tree. After this he spent the rest of his life travelling and preaching his message. He gathered together a group of followers who formed a community known as a sangha.

The Buddha's teachings

The Four Noble Truths

Life is suffering.
Suffering is caused by attachment to desires.
Suffering can be ended by overcoming attachment to desires.
The way to end suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Noble Eightfold Path

Right view
Right thought
Right speech
Right action
Right livelihood
Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right contemplation

Buddhist beliefs

Anatta (anatman) - there is no permanent self or soul. Existence is impermanent - everything is subject to change (anicca or anitya)
Dukkha - suffering
Samsara - Buddhism reinterprets the Hindu idea of a continuing cycle ...

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The Buddha's teachings

The Four Noble Truths

Life is suffering.
Suffering is caused by attachment to desires.
Suffering can be ended by overcoming attachment to desires.
The way to end suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Noble Eightfold Path

Right view
Right thought
Right speech
Right action
Right livelihood
Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right contemplation

Buddhist beliefs

Anatta (anatman) - there is no permanent self or soul. Existence is impermanent - everything is subject to change (anicca or anitya)
Dukkha - suffering
Samsara - Buddhism reinterprets the Hindu idea of a continuing cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Ignorance in one life means that a person clings to life and this causes another cycle of rebirth.
Kamma (karma) - for every action there is a consequence. Kamma can lead to rebirth as a human, an animal, or even as a type of god. Buddhism accepts that there may be gods but they have no special status and they can be reborn into lower levels of existence. These gods are not creators nor do they control human life. They are concerned with pleasure and so do not look for enlightenment.
Nibbana (Nirvana) - the end of rebirth. This is the ultimate aim of Buddhism and is reached when all want and suffering has gone.

Reaching Nibbana involves the four Abodes of Brahma:

loving kindness
compassion
sympathetic joy
equanimity

many people may argue the following:

Classical arguments

Ontological

Anselm (1033-1109)

The argument starts by stating that people describe God as 'that than which nothing greater can be conceived'.
You cannot think of anything greater or more important than the idea of God so therefore there must be a God.

Cosmological

Thomas Aquinas (1225-74)

The argument states that everything has to come from something. You cannot make something out of nothing.
Therefore the universe has to have been created by something and that something (or 'first cause') is God.

Teleological

William Paley (1734-1805)

The argument goes something like this.
If you were walking along and saw a watch you would assume that its parts had not come together by chance, because it is too complicated. Therefore someone must have made it.
Because the universe is so complicated someone must have made this too and that someone was God.