PDP6- Sermons and Teachings
Author Bio: The students of Buddha recorded the sermons and teachings of Buddha, yet, the author of this excerpt from Sermon of Benares is Siddhartha Guatama. Guatama was prophesied to be a great monarch or great Buddha, so he was brought up in great luxury. After having a vision about suffering, Guatama went out into the world to achieve the highest truth, which he was finally able to do once he learned about his past and future lives. He then gathered followers and spread his teachings which later on became one of the world's greatest religions.
Date/Context: This article takes place in the 6th century, although it may have been revised in more recent dates. These teachings took place during the Axic Age. Buddhism was created around 500 B.C.E. as an opposing viewpoint of Hinduism.
Summary: This excerpt discusses what Buddha thinks is the correct way to live life. He says that it is not right to indulge in worldly pleasures nor have many things in life. Buddha teaches his followers about the middle path of life; a path that will eventually lead to enlightenment or Nirvana. He discusses the importance of suffering and recognizing suffering in order to abstain from unhealthy lusts, but he also lets his disciples understand the importance of taking care of one's body since it is one's job to do so. Buddha describes the many ways in which the most painful things in life will emerge from bodily attachments to things. The second portion of this article is about a student talking to his teacher about Nirvana. The teacher helps to show the student that Nirvana is not a material thing, that it cannot be touched or grasped. He explains that although Nirvana cannot be seen, like wind, it's presence can be felt almost all of the time.
Key Quotation: "'By the practice of lovingkindness I have attained liberation of heart, and thus I am assured that I shall never returned in renewed births. I have even now attained Nirvana.'"
In "Sermons and Teachings" the "identifying characteristics" were very obvious to the reader. They are found throughout the passage, but mainly in the beginning of a new section. For example, one charcateristic is the background. This is on the first page and it talks about how Buddha " an enlightened one" came to guide others. The next important characteristic falls in the beginning of the section "The Sermon and Benares" the passage explains Buddhas view on how one must live their life. Buddha believes that people should not indulge in luxuries and that self-indulgence is unworthy. The next identifying characteristic comes in the section "What is Nirvana?". In this section Nirvana is explained and the main point, as Allison stated, is that Nirvana is not a material thing. Allison did a great job of summarizing and explaining the passage "Sermons and Teachings". However, I would add how in Buddha's journey of finding his highest truth, he finally reached it during meditation, when he saw his past and future lives. This is important to understand the role meditation has in Buddhism. Allison could have also mentioned the role that "karma" plays into Buddhism. Karma is important to a Buddhist understanding of how the world works, as they believe everything is driven by karma. Finally, Allison chose a good key quotation, but she could have also quoted '"Sire, Nirvana is; Nirvana is cognizable by mind; an ariyan-disciple, faring along rightly with a mind that is purified, lofty, straight, with-out obstructions, without temporal desires, sees Nirvana"'. This quotation is important because it helps the reader to better understand the hard to grasp Buddhist concept of Nirvana. Overall, Allison did a very good job!
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