Buddhist beliefs and teachings

Buddhism originated in north-east India around the 5th century BCE with the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who became known as the Buddha ("the Awakened One"). With ~520 million followers worldwide, Buddhism is unique in not requiring belief in a creator God.

The Buddha's life

• Born ~563 BCE in Lumbini (modern-day Nepal), a prince of the Shakya clan.
• Predicted at birth to be either a great king or a great spiritual teacher.
• Lived in luxury within the palace; his father shielded him from suffering.
• The Four Sights (aged 29): on excursions outside the palace he encountered an old man, a sick man, a corpse and a holy ascetic — confronting him with suffering and a possible path to overcome it.
• Renounced his life of luxury (the Going Forth); spent six years as a wandering ascetic, including extreme self-denial. Realised this was as unhelpful as luxury.
• Sat under the Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya and meditated until he attained Enlightenment (nirvana). He became the Buddha.
• Spent 45 years teaching the Dharma across the Ganges plain, founding the Sangha (monastic community).
• Died ~483 BCE at Kushinagar, attaining parinirvana (final nirvana, freedom from rebirth).

The Three Marks of Existence (tilakkhana)

These describe the nature of all conditioned reality:

1. Anicca (impermanence) — everything changes; nothing is permanent. Even mountains erode; emotions pass.
2. Dukkha (suffering / unsatisfactoriness) — life involves suffering, from physical pain to psychological dissatisfaction.
3. Anatta (non-self) — there is no fixed, unchanging soul. The "self" is a constantly changing collection of physical and mental processes (the five aggregates: form, feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness).

The Four Noble Truths

The Buddha's first sermon at Sarnath:

1. Dukkha — life is suffering / unsatisfactory.
2. Samudaya — suffering is caused by craving (tanha) and attachment.
3. Nirodha — suffering can end by ending craving.
4. Magga — the path to ending suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Noble Eightfold Path

Often grouped into three categories:

Wisdom (paññā) — 1. Right View, 2. Right Intention. Ethical conduct (sīla) — 3. Right Speech, 4. Right Action, 5. Right Livelihood. Mental discipline (samādhi) — 6. Right Effort, 7. Right Mindfulness, 8. Right Concentration.

The path is not sequential — all eight are practised together. The image is a wheel (the Dhammachakra), with eight spokes.

Dependent arising (paticca-samuppāda)

Everything arises in dependence on conditions. Nothing exists independently. This explains rebirth without an unchanging soul: each life-moment conditions the next.

Theravada and Mahayana traditions

The two main branches:

• Theravada ("Way of the Elders") — South-east Asia (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos). Closer to original teachings; emphasises the arhat (one who has attained nirvana for themselves). Pali Canon scriptures.
• Mahayana ("Great Vehicle") — East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet). Emphasises the bodhisattva ideal — those who postpone their own nirvana to help all beings. Includes Pure Land, Zen, Tibetan/Vajrayana traditions. Sanskrit and local-language scriptures.

Both share the Three Marks, Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path.

Examiner tips

• Always identify the Buddha as Siddhartha Gautama in your introduction.
• For "explain" questions on the Eightfold Path, group items into the three categories.
• Quote the Pali terms (anicca, dukkha, anatta) where appropriate — but always also give the English translation.
• For "evaluate" questions, contrast Theravada (self-liberation) and Mahayana (liberation of all beings) approaches.