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fandomhigh2006-10-11 01:24 pm
preacher-custer.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2006-10-11 01:24 pm
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World Religions, Wednesday, 2nd Period [10/11]
Another night making friends with Mr. Miller and Mr. Daniels has left Jesse a bit less than exuberant this morning. He's standing by an open window when the first student enters and might possibly have flicked a cigarette away like a guy caught smoking in the boys room.
The handouts are waiting with the sign-in sheet and Jesse starts up as soon as everyone has taken a seat.
"When you think about religions, you probably think about a god or gods. Thing is, we've talked about more than one religion in this class that doesn't have that. Buddhism1 is another one. Buddha's not a god, he's an enlightened person. Anyone has the potential to be a Buddha, if they just wake up and see existence for what it really is. You could argue that Jesus was a Buddha. And Mohammed.
"Siddhartha Gautama2 is the guy most folks are probably thinking of when they say 'Buddha.' He's a Buddha, but he's also the Buddha, since he's the guy behind the religion we currently call Buddhism."
"Buddha said, 'I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the end of suffering.'
"Unlike religions that want you to go strictly on faith, Buddhist teaching encourages individuals to practice and verify the Buddha's teachings based on their own personal experience, and also after consulting with 'the wise'. If they find the teachings are true - leading to more happiness and less suffering - they can apply these teachings in a practical form into their daily life if they so wish. There's no hellfire and brimstone in the teaching and no insistence that there's only one way to get from here to there."
Jesse then goes on to discuss the various sects and approaches within Buddhism, concluding with Zen Buddhism3.
"Today I want y'all to have a look at koans4. Get together with a partner and either talk about one of the example koans. Or, and I'll give extra credit to anyone who does this, come up with a koan of your own."
Handout links:
1Buddhism at Wiki
2Gautama Buddha
3Zen Buddhism
4Koans
Syllabus
[ooc: My thanks to wikipedia for the parts I cribbed verbatim.]
The handouts are waiting with the sign-in sheet and Jesse starts up as soon as everyone has taken a seat.
"When you think about religions, you probably think about a god or gods. Thing is, we've talked about more than one religion in this class that doesn't have that. Buddhism1 is another one. Buddha's not a god, he's an enlightened person. Anyone has the potential to be a Buddha, if they just wake up and see existence for what it really is. You could argue that Jesus was a Buddha. And Mohammed.
"Siddhartha Gautama2 is the guy most folks are probably thinking of when they say 'Buddha.' He's a Buddha, but he's also the Buddha, since he's the guy behind the religion we currently call Buddhism."
"Buddha said, 'I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the end of suffering.'
"Unlike religions that want you to go strictly on faith, Buddhist teaching encourages individuals to practice and verify the Buddha's teachings based on their own personal experience, and also after consulting with 'the wise'. If they find the teachings are true - leading to more happiness and less suffering - they can apply these teachings in a practical form into their daily life if they so wish. There's no hellfire and brimstone in the teaching and no insistence that there's only one way to get from here to there."
Jesse then goes on to discuss the various sects and approaches within Buddhism, concluding with Zen Buddhism3.
"Today I want y'all to have a look at koans4. Get together with a partner and either talk about one of the example koans. Or, and I'll give extra credit to anyone who does this, come up with a koan of your own."
Handout links:
1Buddhism at Wiki
2Gautama Buddha
3Zen Buddhism
4Koans
Syllabus
[ooc: My thanks to wikipedia for the parts I cribbed verbatim.]