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The Quest for Enlightenment: Hinduism and Buddhism - Richard Smoley
The Quest for Enlightenment: Hinduism and Buddhism - Richard Smoley
Download handouts
Handout 1 Buddhism
Handout 2 Hinduism
Depending on the size of your class, the extent of the familiarity of the participants with Buddhism and Hinduism, and the length of your group, you may want to divide this class into separate days.
Discussion questions: Buddhism
1-When asked what made him different from other men, and what he was, the Buddha’s one assertion was “I am Awake.”
1a- Being Awake is the primary metaphor for Buddhism. Why do you think this “awake” metaphor was focused on?
1b- In your own words, what do you think it means to be awake in this sense?
2- “Buddha has a Sanskrit root meaning both “to wake up” and “to know.” In the everyday mundane sense, what is it that you know when you wake up after a night’s sleep that you did not know when you were sleeping? Or, what is it that changes in your knowing?
3- What, in your opinion, is the significance of the fact that Buddha was born into a family of royalty and riches?
4-The Buddha’s spiritual search began when he came upon The Four Passing Sites:
The Four Passing Sites, Siddhartha saw the real world...
-knew age... saw old man on side of road
-knew disease... saw a diseased man
-knew death... saw a corpse
-knew religion... saw a monk
4a- Why was the fourth one, seeing a monk, so important?
4b- In Buddhism, it is considered extremely fortunate to be exposed to the Dharma, the teachings of Buddha. How would you relate Buddha’s seeing a monk to the fact that Buddhism celebrates that anyone who even hears the teachings is already extremely fortunate?
5- The Buddha undergoes three archetypal temptations: as he sat, he was tempted by Mara (the evil one)
-desire... the three goddesses
-death... the form of natural destruction
-challenge. What right had he to do what he did (earth bore witness by voice and thunder)
5a- The emphasis in some teachings of Buddhism on assuring Buddhist practitioners that they have the right to achieve spiritual heights is especially important.
5b- Why do you think this challenge of worthiness to have the right to achieve great spiritual heights was included as one of the three primary temptations?
5c- Why was this third temptation important in light of the fact that India was dominated by the caste system?
6- Why do you think Buddhism is so often referred to as the most pragmatic of all religions?
7- Define each of the four noble truths in your own words.
8- There is a unique metaphor on Buddhism and Hinduism which uses a candle flame being extinguished as a symbol of enlightenment. What does this metaphor mean?
Discussion questions: Hinduism
9- “Hinduism says that if you desire enjoyment and see that as the ultimate goal, then pursue it to the fullest.” (Handout 2) Instead of vehemently condemning any desire, Hinduism recommends that one pursues whatever one’s desire happens to be. What is the wisdom inherent in this prescription?
10- Hinduism involves a careful and subtle analysis of the nature of Desire. In your own words, considering the different desires you have had at different stages of your life, how would you summarize in a sentence or two the nature of desire. I.e., what does man ultimately want?
11- What is the goal of Hinduism?
12- Compare and contrast the enlightenment of Hinduism and the Nirvana/Realization of Buddhism.
12a- How are they the same?
12b- How are they different?
Proposed activities
1- Break into small groups. First, in your small group, review the Buddhist Eightfold Path from handout 1. Then invent characters to illustrate a couple key Buddhist and Hindu concepts.
2- Invent a character who gets all of the recommendations in the eightfold path precisely wrong. Describe the character in detail illustrating how he fails at each of the Eightfold Path guidelines.
3- Next, your group will write a psychological description of four different people. Each person will have one of the four primary character types designated by Hinduism: reflective, emotional, active, and empirical (experimental).
In your description of the person, do NOT include his/her spiritual habits, beliefs, or practices. Rather, describe the person focusing on how their character type comes through in their everyday existence. You might take one with a person in a certain type of job, family, and community, and show each of the four character types and how they would interact with that job, family, community based on their primary character type.
4- Share your descriptions of both the Eight Fold path violator and the four basic character types according to Hinduism; for the latter, see if the other groups can guess which type you were describing.
Resources
Books
Eliot, Charles, Sir, Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch, A294.5 ELI HB
Goldstein, Joseph, The Experience of Insight : A Simple and Direct Guide to Buddhist Meditation, 242 GOL EOI
Gunaratana, Henepola, Mindfulness in Plain English, B294.71 GUN MPE
Hall, Manly Palmer, Buddhism and Psychotherapy, 145 HAL BP
Radhakrishnan, S., The Hindu View of Life, H294.5 RAD HVL 1980
Smith, Huston, Buddhism : A Concise Introduction, B294 SMI B
Stoddart, William, Outline of Hinduism, H294.5 STO OH
Sound recordings
(AR: audiocassette; CDA: Compact Disc)
Chödrön, Pema, Comfortable with Uncertainty : 108 teachings, CDA 0089-2
Govinda, Anagarika Brahmacari, Concepts of Buddhism, CDA 0198
Govinda, Anagarika Brahmacari, The Development of Buddhism, CDA 0244
Muesse, Mark W., Great World Religions. Hinduism, CDA 0258
Nicholson, Shirley J., Karma, Skandhas, and Personality, CDA 0192
Videorecordings
(VR: VHS Videocassette)
Chopra, Deepak, God and Buddha: A Dialogue, DVD 0020
Ellwood, Robert S., The Ecumenical Path: Buddhism: Panel Discussion, DVD 0242
Hartley, Elda, World Religions. Vol. 2, Wisdoms of India, DVD 0078
Prashad, Neil, On Life & Enlightenment: Principles of Buddhism with His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Renowned Spiritual Leaders, DVD 0064
Download handouts
Handout 1 Buddhism
Handout 2 Hinduism
Depending on the size of your class, the extent of the familiarity of the participants with Buddhism and Hinduism, and the length of your group, you may want to divide this class into separate days.
Discussion questions: Buddhism
1-When asked what made him different from other men, and what he was, the Buddha’s one assertion was “I am Awake.”
1a- Being Awake is the primary metaphor for Buddhism. Why do you think this “awake” metaphor was focused on?
1b- In your own words, what do you think it means to be awake in this sense?
2- “Buddha has a Sanskrit root meaning both “to wake up” and “to know.” In the everyday mundane sense, what is it that you know when you wake up after a night’s sleep that you did not know when you were sleeping? Or, what is it that changes in your knowing?
3- What, in your opinion, is the significance of the fact that Buddha was born into a family of royalty and riches?
4-The Buddha’s spiritual search began when he came upon The Four Passing Sites:
The Four Passing Sites, Siddhartha saw the real world...
-knew age... saw old man on side of road
-knew disease... saw a diseased man
-knew death... saw a corpse
-knew religion... saw a monk
4a- Why was the fourth one, seeing a monk, so important?
4b- In Buddhism, it is considered extremely fortunate to be exposed to the Dharma, the teachings of Buddha. How would you relate Buddha’s seeing a monk to the fact that Buddhism celebrates that anyone who even hears the teachings is already extremely fortunate?
5- The Buddha undergoes three archetypal temptations: as he sat, he was tempted by Mara (the evil one)
-desire... the three goddesses
-death... the form of natural destruction
-challenge. What right had he to do what he did (earth bore witness by voice and thunder)
5a- The emphasis in some teachings of Buddhism on assuring Buddhist practitioners that they have the right to achieve spiritual heights is especially important.
5b- Why do you think this challenge of worthiness to have the right to achieve great spiritual heights was included as one of the three primary temptations?
5c- Why was this third temptation important in light of the fact that India was dominated by the caste system?
6- Why do you think Buddhism is so often referred to as the most pragmatic of all religions?
7- Define each of the four noble truths in your own words.
8- There is a unique metaphor on Buddhism and Hinduism which uses a candle flame being extinguished as a symbol of enlightenment. What does this metaphor mean?
Discussion questions: Hinduism
9- “Hinduism says that if you desire enjoyment and see that as the ultimate goal, then pursue it to the fullest.” (Handout 2) Instead of vehemently condemning any desire, Hinduism recommends that one pursues whatever one’s desire happens to be. What is the wisdom inherent in this prescription?
10- Hinduism involves a careful and subtle analysis of the nature of Desire. In your own words, considering the different desires you have had at different stages of your life, how would you summarize in a sentence or two the nature of desire. I.e., what does man ultimately want?
11- What is the goal of Hinduism?
12- Compare and contrast the enlightenment of Hinduism and the Nirvana/Realization of Buddhism.
12a- How are they the same?
12b- How are they different?
Proposed activities
1- Break into small groups. First, in your small group, review the Buddhist Eightfold Path from handout 1. Then invent characters to illustrate a couple key Buddhist and Hindu concepts.
2- Invent a character who gets all of the recommendations in the eightfold path precisely wrong. Describe the character in detail illustrating how he fails at each of the Eightfold Path guidelines.
3- Next, your group will write a psychological description of four different people. Each person will have one of the four primary character types designated by Hinduism: reflective, emotional, active, and empirical (experimental).
In your description of the person, do NOT include his/her spiritual habits, beliefs, or practices. Rather, describe the person focusing on how their character type comes through in their everyday existence. You might take one with a person in a certain type of job, family, and community, and show each of the four character types and how they would interact with that job, family, community based on their primary character type.
4- Share your descriptions of both the Eight Fold path violator and the four basic character types according to Hinduism; for the latter, see if the other groups can guess which type you were describing.
Resources
Books
Eliot, Charles, Sir, Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch, A294.5 ELI HB
Goldstein, Joseph, The Experience of Insight : A Simple and Direct Guide to Buddhist Meditation, 242 GOL EOI
Gunaratana, Henepola, Mindfulness in Plain English, B294.71 GUN MPE
Hall, Manly Palmer, Buddhism and Psychotherapy, 145 HAL BP
Radhakrishnan, S., The Hindu View of Life, H294.5 RAD HVL 1980
Smith, Huston, Buddhism : A Concise Introduction, B294 SMI B
Stoddart, William, Outline of Hinduism, H294.5 STO OH
Sound recordings
(AR: audiocassette; CDA: Compact Disc)
Chödrön, Pema, Comfortable with Uncertainty : 108 teachings, CDA 0089-2
Govinda, Anagarika Brahmacari, Concepts of Buddhism, CDA 0198
Govinda, Anagarika Brahmacari, The Development of Buddhism, CDA 0244
Muesse, Mark W., Great World Religions. Hinduism, CDA 0258
Nicholson, Shirley J., Karma, Skandhas, and Personality, CDA 0192
Videorecordings
(VR: VHS Videocassette)
Chopra, Deepak, God and Buddha: A Dialogue, DVD 0020
Ellwood, Robert S., The Ecumenical Path: Buddhism: Panel Discussion, DVD 0242
Hartley, Elda, World Religions. Vol. 2, Wisdoms of India, DVD 0078
Prashad, Neil, On Life & Enlightenment: Principles of Buddhism with His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Renowned Spiritual Leaders, DVD 0064
Tags: buddhism, enlightenment, hindusim, smoley
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