2. Insight

2. Insight

1. Samsara

   • Refers to the cycle of suffering found both across and within the different realms of existence Moksha refers to release from the cycle of rebirth impelled by the Law of Karma
   • The Wheel of Life
     • Depicts different Buddhist ideas of suffering, such as the Six Realms and Dependent Origination Yama: Holds the Wheel of Life in his arms and teeth, keeping the cycle revolving Mara: Distracts those on the path to enlightenment, and once attempted to prevent Gautama's enlightenment
     • The Six Realms
       • Describes states which we may find ourselves in, either metaphorically, psychologically, or literally
       • Devas Realm
         • Karmic Cause: Pride Divine beings live in a paradise achieved by good deeds, though their misery lies in their eventual realisation of their errors They are still subject to old age and death, albeit over thousands of years Buddha: Plays the Melody of Impermanence on a lute
       • Asura Realm
         • Karmic Cause: Jealousy, envy Semi-divine beings war against the gods, jealous over their possessions Their suffering manifests as endless envy and insatiable emotion Buddha: Holds a flaming sword, representative of wisdom
       • Human Realm
         • Karmic Cause: Desire Characterised by suffering in the repeated cycle of birth, sickness, old age, and death This realm is significant to Buddhism, as it provides the greatest opportunity for achieving enlightenment Buddha: Holds an alms bowl of a wandering monk
       • Animal Realm
         • Karmic Cause: Ignorance, delusion Characterised by its brutality, and oppression from other beings They devour each other, so they either prey or are prey Buddha: Offers the dharma, symbolic of hope and enlightenment
       • Pretas Realm
         • Karmic Cause: Greed, craving 'Hungry ghosts' with long necks and large bellies can not quench their thirsts, as their thirsts disappear before them Buddha: Offers a jar of nectar to soothe their cravings
       • The Naraka Realm
         • Karmic Cause: Hatred, anger Beings are tormented as they burn or freeze in one of many hells, or suffer other horrific deaths Buddha: Bears a flame to bring hope and enlightenment to those who suffer
     • Punabbhava
       • Refers to rebirth or rebecoming
       • Nagasena's Lamp
         • Explains rebecoming to King Milinda through suggesting that a lamp's flame during the last watch of a night is neither the same nor different to the flame from the first watch He also encourages Milinda to admit that he is neither the same nor different to any of his earlier selves
       • Hinduism
         • Suggests that rebecoming is when an individual's 'atman' moves from one body to another
       • Tulkus
         • Theravadins believe lamas can influence their future birth, so a search is made for their karmic successor - a 'tulku'
     • Triple Fires
       • Ignorance/Delusion: Represented by a pig, ignorance is when we refuse to maintain an open mind and adopt a wider outlook Manifestations: Ignorance may bring about suffering in itself, though is also the root of greed and hatred Greed/Craving: Represented by a cockerel, the Buddha identifies three types: - Craving for Sense Objects (e.g. alcohol) - Craving for Existence (i.e. desire to live) - Craving for Non-Existence (i.e. non-desire to live) Manifestations: Drinking will manifest in hangovers, desire to live will result in suffering from disappointment, and suicide will lead to another rebirth Hatred/Aggression: Represented by a snake, and refers to when we show anger Manifestations: Hot anger (e.g. assaulting someone) may result in arrest, while cold anger (e.g. ignoring someone) will result in long-lasting tensions
     • Karma
       • Translates as 'action', which can be good or bad; right or wrong The Law of Karma: Refers to a natural law of cause and effect, in which bad actions are met with bad consequences, and good actions are met with good consequences
       • Rising and Falling
         • Refers to how people ascent or descend through karmic states: - White Path: Good actions which lead to better rebirths and closer to liberation - Dark Path: Bad actions (i.e. motivated by the Triple Poisons) which lead to poorer rebirths and further from liberation
       • Types of Actions
         • Volitional Actions: Motivated by an intent to achieve a goal which will bring about either good or bad consequences, such as a value of education Intentional Actions: Morally neutral actions which have been carefully considered, e.g. getting out of bed and brushing your teeth
       • Seeds and Fruits
         • As soon as a volitional act is performed, a karmic seed is planted This seed will bear fruit later on, either in their current life or after several lifetimes They may even be born into higher or lesser states of being
     • Paticcasamuppada
       • Carried out on the basis of ignorance, and occurs across and/or within lifetimes Each nidana is dependent upon the previous one for its arising Denise Cush describes dependent origination as 'brought about by a collection of interrelated causal conditions'
       • 1. Ignorance
         • Represented by a blind man This is symbolic of spiritual blindness, particularly the Four Noble Truths
       • 7. Feeling
         • Depicted as an eye being pierced by an arrow This arrow represents how sense objects often evoke strong feelings, linking to the Second Skandha of Craving
       • 8. Craving
         • Symbolised by a person taking a drink from another This illustrates how craving leads to thirsts, which only has a negative effect on us
       • 2. Impulses
         • Symbolised by a potter shaping an item Much like a potter's actions mould their products, an individual's actions shape their karma - we must therefore be mindful in our actions

2. The Three Marks of Existence

   • An experience of anicca, dukkha, and anatta constitute a being in samsara
   • Anicca
     • Refers to how everything is impermanent and always changing
     • Gross and Momentary
       • Gross Anicca: Includes things we knowingly experience, such as the weather, social changes, and deaths Momentary Anicca: Refers to how all things are constantly changing, although very subtly (such as atomic decay)
     • Anicca and Dukkha
       • Anicca (impermanence) is often the cause for our suffering (dukkha)
     • Anicca and Anatta
       • Anicca links to anatta (non-self), due to the emphasis on an impermanent existence
   • Dukkha
     • Refers to suffering, or the unsatisfactoriness of a conditioned existence
     • Walpola Rahula
       • Says dukkha actually conveys deeper ideas such as imperfection and insubstantiality
     • Three Categories
       • Ordinary Suffering: Includes old age, sickness, and not getting what one wants Suffering Arising from Change: Refers to how we suffer when things beyond our control change, such as poverty Suffering of Conditioned Experience: Occurs as a result of attachment to the 'self' and allowing dukkha to affect us
     • Types of Unavoidable Suffering
       • Physical: Sickness, old age, and death Mental: Separation from pleasant things and contact with unpleasant things
   • Anatta
     • Refers to the idea that given all things are impermanent, we cannot have a fixed 'self'
     • Eternalism and Annihilationism
       • Eternalism: The belief there is a fixed aspect of identity, such as an atman Annihilationism: The belief that each and every one of us is doomed to totally disappear from existence as we die Anatta therefore concedes that being is a state of being neither the same nor different as before
     • Nagasena's Chariot Analogy
       • Nagasena informs King Milinda that no individual part of a chariot, be it the wheels, axle, or framework, make it a chariot It is instead a concept made so by the sum of its parts, much like a person is a person because they possess the Five Skandhas
     • The Five Skandhas
       • 1. Matter: Physical things, such as our bodies, sense organs, and sense objects 2. Feeling: Feeling which is produced through contact with sense objects 3. Perceptions: Being able to attach descriptions to sensory experience 4. Mental Formations: Means reacting to sense objects, often in a regular pattern, e.g. a snake might evoke fear 5. Consciousness: Awareness of an object and discrimination of its components